"Once I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet."

I remember growing up and going to church every Sunday. Now the church I attended was no ordinary church in Canadian standards. This was not the - Sleep in because there are three services in a Sunday and with a good alarm clock, a little bit of discipline and faith, you can make it to at least one of the afternoon services - Then you sing a couple of mediocre songs and listen to an encouraging message all within an hour- Next off to shake a few hands, smile and successfully head home only to bury yourself back into the chase of your ultimate Work-Life Balance.

No, my typical Sunday growing up was quite different. You see, my grandparents were actually descendants of African American pioneers from Texas. Yes, they literally came over in the early 1900's in covered wagons in search of the "Better Life". As my family history goes, they settled in Wildwood, AB, raised a farm AND built a two story family home with their own hands (which was quite the feat in those days). The family also established a very successful local dry goods store called, non other than........ "Leffler's Dry Goods Store".... lol things were so simple back then!

This entrepreneurial spirit and drive also led the family to plant a local church. They grew the local congregation and eventually recruited an AMAZING Pastor (Reverend J.T. Collins) from Watts, California to carry on the spiritual journey of their ancestors.

So with all of this rich family history behind me, back to my typical Sunday growing up and why this background information is so important to this Post.

So my Sundays looked like this: Wake up early, Gospel music playing on the record player to the sounds of The Five Blind Boys of Alabama singing "People Get Ready, There's a Train Coming", hot porridge cooking, my grand mother and my father getting dressed in their Sunday's finest, and us girls doing the same. It was time for Church and it was time to be serious about our faith and our testimony of how God brought us through such terrible,trying times and saw us overcome the difficulties and ultimately gave us the strength and wisdom to achieve our dreams.

This is when I heard the sermon from Reverend Collins titled "Once I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet".

At that time, as a young woman, I could feel the pain, endurance and faith that my elders had, but I had never experienced it for my self. All I could understand from these few words was to be Grateful in every way and every day, moment by moment. To try to live in a state of Gratefulness because you never knew what someone else had endured or is enduring right where they were. Also that you may think that you "have it so bad"until you learn about your very own neighbor, who is experiencing much worse challenges than your own.

Now back to present time, November 11, 2015 to be exact. I was grumpy because it was Remembrance Day and my son's daycare was closed. Yes, I'm being honest here, that as a single mother, striving to be a great mom and entrepreneur, every moment counts first for my children and next for my business. On this particular day, I was hopelessly trying to juggle both, I was feeling sorry for myself, AND I was very tired and grumpy.

My 3 year old son and I walked out of our condo to go on an adventure to an indoor play place (which was actually dreaded on my behalf as I was so tired and stressed!) We locked our front door, I placed the key in my pocket, turned to walk down the hall, hand in hand with my son to the elevator,when I saw a man directly down the hall. He was unshaven, walking slowly,and his clothing was quite wrinkled and worn. Now this is not the norm in my condo as we live in one of the "good" neighborhoods. 

I had locked the door of my condo but actually began to double check the lock as this man walked closer to us. Something wasn't right here, but I didn't quite know what it was. As he approached us, I noticed that he was very out of breath. He slowly  walked up and introduced himself. His name was Lee and he was just temporarily visiting the building. He lives in Vancouver, successfully works in the corporate world, but had come here to have a double lung transplant. This was his first day out of the hospital and he was walking the halls of the condo,which was a huge part of his recovery, trying to regain his strength. He apologized for looking suspicious, he explained that he was here with his wife staying with their cousin whom I actually knew as we live on the same floor. Lee then went on to explain how he waited for 4 days in the hospital knowing that he was dying to see if he had a donor that was a match. And that the lungs that he did receive, just in time, was from a young man in his 20's that had a sudden brain aneurysm. As I listened, I searched into his eyes in disbelief , then I admitted to him that I had never met someone who had experienced such a life changing event. And in return, he looked right back into my eyes, and with deep conviction, shared that he HAS overcome this obstacle in his life and that he was grateful for his recovery as not everyone in his circumstance were this fortunate.

Overall Life Lesson: When we are feeling down about our own circumstances always remember

"Once I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet."

LINKEDIN FRIENDS, ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL!!

Best Always,

Leah