This past week I did something I have done thousands of times over the last 25 years. I was showing a hotel and walking with the buyer and seller through the property. As with all showings, the buyers want to see the room mix and conditions and as part of that, they want to see the handicap rooms.
I was standing in the door of the handicap room listening to the buyer and seller discuss various aspects of the room’s condition and compliance issues and the usual conversation. For some reason, that day I zoned out the chatter and really focused on the room. It has a much larger bathroom and shower to accommodate the wheelchair access. The clothes hangers are at waist high level as well as the curtain rods have extenders so someone can reach them from the sitting position. There are mounted lift bars in various places throughout the room and the bath vanity was a special design to allow the wheelchair to roll up under it so the occupant would have accessibility to the facilities.
All of this is fairly standard with handicap accessible hotel rooms but what was not standard that day, was my reaction to it. Standing in the door way I was both humbled and grateful. I was aware of the statement of John Bradford in the 16th century when he said the famous words “there but for the grace of God, go I.”
I did a quick personal inventory standing in that hotel room and realized how very very humbled, blessed and thankful I am. Joy and peace can be an elusive thing but the quickest way to cut out all the noise, is to take a personal inventory of our own lives and thank God for what he has already done for us. KT