New stuff here in Canada

It is fun to notice the new things Canada has come up with while we have been gone for three years. I walk in the huge ware house grocery store and find every chemical to remove stains from clothes, teeth, bathtubs and floors- without scrubbing! Just apply and wait to see it disappear. The Swifer- wet (with strip for hard to get off spots) and dry cleans all the floors. No need for a broom, mop and water bucket. Tide pens that you carry in your bag and apply the second you drip spaghetti sauce on your shirt. (Where was this when I was raising kids?)

We are finding a Tim Hortons on every corner. That is the store. We are finding Tim Hortons coffee cups in people’s hands EVERYWHERE: in church, walking the malls, sitting in the sunshine on a park bench, riding a bike or driving a car, even in their own kitchens! I guess Tim makes better coffee than mother does.

Basically you can find anything to make life faster, easier, more comfortable and cleaner. But does it make people happier? Less stressed? More content? I am not sure. I think of my Filipino friends, many who are still washing clothes by hand in a basin outside. Are they really “missing out” on all this stuff? What brings contentment to them?

Are we more content when life is easier and more comfortable? I wonder… I guess I find my contentment not in an easier life but when my relationships are in tack. When I can rely on the unconditional love of my husband. When my adults kids want me to be around. When people greet me with a long, hard hug and remember my name after not seeing them for 3 years. And when I am at peace with myself, knowing I am God’s child, unique and loved and accepted by him.

So while I am enjoying all the new stuff, I am trying not to get used to it and keep my life rich with relationships and not gadgets. How about you?