Just enough

She casually stood on the side of the dirt road, dressed in multiple layers of shirt and sweater hanging loosely above her ankle length paisley skirt. The morning air was cool from the late night rains. Her mission at daybreak was a pint of milk. Not a gallon – insufficient funds.  With her back to the passersby, she held out her plastic jug to the lady with the large yellow canister to acquire the ‘just enough’ needed for the day.  A few moments of comradery and she’s on her way.  A stone’s throw down the road a teenager fills a ½ litre water bottle with milk too. It’s routine on the streets of rural Kenya. Fetching daily supplies for the needs of the next 24 hours.  Milk, firewood, water, cooking oil, eggs. Small markets and individual businesses supply the appropriate portions as a strategic response to their customers. It makes commercial sense for several reasons including the size of storage space many have in their homes as well as what the locals can afford.  For the lady I saw retrieving milk, I wondered if her daily hope is whether there will be a sufficient supply. No waste. No excess. No extra. Just enough.

A natural trend for lots of us is to ‘stock up’ on what we think we need. (Pause on that a moment).  If we find household or personal items at a discounted price, we fill our shopping carts or maybe we simply want to avoid frequent trips to the store. But that’s not the way of life for many in the world. Realistically it doesn’t make sense.  Either the funds just aren’t available and there is no choice, or perhaps the routine of gathering enough for the day is simply the norm and even enjoyable.   One of the nicest things is seeing lots of people outside walking, sidewalk shopping, exchanging handshakes and hugs, talking and socializing in their communities. There is something refreshing about it. No one is in a hurry. Relationships are more important than the clock.

Many years ago, a nation of people were pilgrims on route to a better land and for a time they wandered in a dessert. Funds were low and supplies were bare.  Amazingly every day, they found manna from heaven on the ground and “each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed” (Exodus 16:21).  A sufficient portion at each break of dawn. No mega super stores. No Costco. No storing up – they were actually warned against that. But just enough for the day.   Fast forward a few centuries and Jesus is teaching his followers, and by extension us, how to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

One of the beliefs of the Christian faith is that God is our provider. His nature is good. He loves and cares for all He has created – people yes, but also the trees, the sky, the ocean, the stars, sun and rain,  elephants and butterflies, the mountains, the birds … oh yea, the birds – “they neither sow or reap or store away in barns, yet their heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6) – just enough.

I stop to ponder.  Is having an abundance kind of life what leads us to feel self-sufficient and faith deficient? Can ‘storing up’ cause people to overlook the value of believing in and depending on a loving Creator? And is that why we exceed more in getting and feeling satisfied than in giving, sharing, and loving our neighbor?   

What’s on your ‘just enough’ list today?  Money, security, love, faith, hope, opportunity, rest, adventure, health, courage …? Perhaps the lady on the side of the road can help us all remember that ‘just enough’ is not so out of reach after all.

Warm hugs from Kenya J

Wanda