The One Thing I Forgot Was The One Thing I Needed

Have you ever needed a big broom to sweep off your truck? We had brought almost everything with us on our 25th wedding anniversary, but big broom to sweep off the truck was not on our list. We had packed for the NFR, we had packed for hiking and a visit with friends. We had packed warm clothes, and ski gear for the last part of our trip. We weren’t prepared for the massive amount of snow that would cover our truck the day before we would head home. A quick trip to the front desk and a hotel manager, who saw the guy with the cowboy hat, had a broom in hand before he was even able to ask the question. I suppose it was obvious…………

As the truck was swept, I packed up our stuff and before we knew it we were off. I just wonder how long it would have taken if we wouldn’t have had the right equipment. And the kindness of a hotel manager with a broom! We often find ourselves in this same situation. Off somewhere without the equipment we need. A jack……….I know, hard to believe but it happens, or the rinky dink jack that looks like something you’d find in a box of Cracker Jacks. It’s about as cheap and has been thrown by more people than just me! Or the one ingredient you forgot to pick up at the store and now you’re back at the ranch and it’s too far to town or too late to get it now. The one thing you forgot is the one thing you need.

Now, it’s impossible to think of everything. I’ve never packed a broom for a road trip. Besides, “I might need it someday!”, is the reason the barn is full right now. Over prepared or under prepared is the constant in our lives! I know it has been in mine and I’m sure you’ve faced some of the same problems. But how do we keep from, “The One Thing I Forgot, Is the One Thing I need!”

How do we separate our wants from our needs?  Wasn’t to hard fifty or a hundred years ago, but suddenly the lines seem a little blurred.  My father-in- law has a saying…yes, add this to the list.  He says, “We have everything you need, but if you go to wanting things, then you got another problem.”  Isn’t that the truth!!!

So here’s a list of needs according to  The Ten Commandments Ex. 20

1.  We Need Only One God
2.  We Need To Worship Him Alone
3.  We Need To Honor His Name
4.  We Need A Holy Day.  A Day Of REST
5.  We Need To Honor Our Father And Mother
6.  We Need To Not Murder
7.  We Need To Want Only Our Spouse
8.  We Need To Not Steal
9.  We Need To Tell The Truth
10.  We Need To Like Our Own Stuff

So maybe this wouldn’t lead me to the question of whether or not I need to bring a broom.  But doesn’t this tool, The Ten Commandments, help us in many areas of our life?  Doesn’t it lead us back to the question of what we really need?  Not a list of rules that are strict and ridgid but a list that leads me to the why’s in life.  Why would I need to worship anyone else when I have the greatest ONE to worship?  Why do I need a Holy day, because God, who loves and created our human bodies knows we need a day of rest….also a day of RESET, to put Him as our top and first priority.   Why would we need to look at someone else, when we have all we need in our own spouse? These of coarse, are just a few examples.  Recently while watching a popular news program, an interviewer asked several people on the street, if they could name some of The Ten Commandments.  Very few of those asked, could even name one.  No wonder the lines of wants and needs are blurred.

What’s the one thing that you forgot, that you needed?  As always, I love to hear from you and consider it a privileged that you sign up for my newsletter. ……..thecowboypastorswife