Guest comment humbles those around to think about more than how much we have
Written by Courtney Mabie, Wellspring case manager and office manager.
Charles Spurgeon said, “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.”
I have genuinely seen this quote come to life throughout my time here at St John’s Ministries. Whether it’s laughing through an Uno game with guests, savoring a baked good in the middle of a morning chat or anything in between. I have seen joy personified in the smallest details.
Through my daily interactions with guests at St. John’s Ministries, I find myself humbled often. While I have a million examples, one specific instance, although not extravagant, stopped me right in my tracks.
Every Friday at Wellspring, we do what’s affectionately called “Weekly Wind Down”. We enjoy a movie to simply wind down from the long week that was. Two weeks before Christmas, we turned on How the Grinch Stole Christmas and I popped some microwave popcorn.
As I was handing out bowls of popcorn, a guest exclaimed excitedly, “This is so nice! I haven’t had microwave popcorn for 4 years since I became houseless and it’s still warm!”
This caused me to pause to think about the simple joy of a bag of popcorn, and how I have so often taken small details like that for granted. I also thought about everything I have that makes it possible to have a microwaved bag of popcorn. My apartment has an outlet to plug in a microwave. I have a car that makes it easy to go and get that popcorn from the store and a great job that gives me an income to buy things like popcorn. I have a lot of good.
Sometimes all it takes to enjoy the richness of life is a simple, small, warm bowl of popcorn — the taste of happiness on a random Friday afternoon.
