Our Land Of Plenty

          The United States - the marvelous land of plenty.  And compared to other countries around the world this has been a true description.  God has blest us over many years. In many other countries there is severe famine and folks are dying for lack of necessities.

          Now despite our plenty we have too many homeless who are in real need.  Folks are surviving without a place to live, food to eat or other necessary items.  And so we have many food banks, shelters and government  programs to try and provide for them.  But much more is needed.

          Despite our plenty, some will remember times in our history when this wasn't so.  The few depression survivors who might still be alive will testify of the times when so many things were limited or not available.  Those were hard times for so many.  And the same could be said about the years during World Wars when things like food stamps and coupons were necessary to survive.

          Now we are dealing with a worldwide pandemic and shortages of many things are beginning to develop.  Some of those are in medicines, especially those made or using ingredients from China.  I had one that was taken off the market because of its potential to cause cancer.  Now I can't get its replacement because it is backordered.

          Recently when I was in the hospital I needed an infusion of magnesium because my levels were critically low.  Because they had problems getting mag for infusions they sent me home with some pills - the same as I had been taking at home.  And some drugs have now become so expensive that many folks can't afford to take them.  This in the land of plenty?

          The pandemic caught many of us off guard.  For awhile we couldn't get things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, paper towels and some food goods.  However, now we have stocked up on enough toilet paper on to last us for years.  We now order all of our groceries online and often we are only able to get about 70% of what we order because the rest is out of stock.  But we don't really suffer when you consider that many people around the world can't even get a daily meal.

          Then came the appliance shortages.  Early in the pandemic our washer died and we had to get a replacement.  At that time all the appliance stores were closed due to the virus.  We had to go online and find one that would fit our confined space.  We did find one and fortunately we found a dealer who would still install despite having their storeroom closed.  So we bought, it was installed and we are now living with one we might not have chosen if we could have shopped in person.  But today they only last from 8 to 10 years so we will probably soon have to shop for one again, hopefully when the pandemic is over.

          Then we had our kitchen fire and our microwave above our stove had to be replaced because of smoke damage.  The restoration crew removed it for us and we had to go shopping for a new one.  What an eye opener that experience was.  Now we had heard all the stories on the news about the shortages but we weren't prepared for what we found.

          First we went to L H Brubaker which has three stores and has sold us all of our appliances for decades.  Then we actually had to have an appointment to be admitted to their storeroom.  When we arrived we were stunned to see how empty it was.  I think they only had about 25% of what they normally had on the floor.  They had just two microwaves to install about stoves. despite listing about 75 on their website. The salesman told us that it might take months to order and get one in.  He could not even give us a possible date.  Then he did find one in another of their stores that would at least fit our space but it would have fewer features than  our old one.  He told us that they could put it on hold for us but that they were a month behind in installations.  Would we wait for over a month to get a lesser product?  We decided to look elsewhere.

          So we prayed about it and asked the Lord what to do.  The night before we had been talking to a friend from our church who suggested that we try Gochnauers in East Petersburg.  And she said that we should say that our friend Scott sent us.  So we took her suggestion.

         We were pleasantly surprised to find that they had about five on display and they even had the newer model of what we were replacing and in the color we wanted.  And I don't know why, but we were surprised when they said it could be delivered and installed in a week.  We said "sold" and it is now installed.  Why should we doubt that God does answer our prayers even with shortages in a time of pandemic?

          But this hasn't happened for many people.  During this time we know of a relative who needs a new kitchen stove.  They were able to buy one at a nationally known store but now they can't get it until October.  My son told me of a hunter friend who has been trying to get a freezer for two months and one of the men on our restoration crew has also been trying to get a freezer for two months.  So the shortage is real.  Companies reduced production for the safety of their employees when the virus hit and most retailers can't afford right now to take a chance on buying and stocking large supplies of appliances until  they see where the economy is headed.

          So we are so thankful for all that the Lord has provided for us - a washer that is working, medicines that we need, our home that did not burn down, a new microwave and plenty of food.  In fact we are planning to have fresh corn on the cob tonight, along with fresh peaches on ice cream.  Than you Lord for providing all that we need and much more.