unquenchable

I am hooked on a word today – “unquenchable.”

I keep rolling that word around on my tongue and even looked it up to make sure it is a real word. It is. It just seems that I’ve seen a lot of unquenched people lately. Of course we are all guilty. Words used to describe “quench” include: to extinguish, to calm, to terminate or bring to an end, to satisfy. To put the prefix “un” before a word is like putting the word “not” there and will give the word it prefixes the opposite or contrary meaning. Put “able” at the end of the word and you are giving something a certain quality as described by the attached word. Now that I have defined things – let me say that I have observed many people lately who are not satisfied with things. They are not calm and have the impression of being unfulfilled or lacking of something.

Let me give some examples. A girl I work with always complains about not having enough work hours. She also complains when others take a day off (which means she can have more hours). She wants more hours so she can have more money to pay her bills but complains that she has to work. She is totally unquenchable. And then I was remembering how, when I was a child, our closets in our home had about three feet of clothes rod in which to hang our clothes … and we had plenty of clothes to wear. Today, most of us have double-door closets that expand farther in width than we can reach and we still complain that we have nothing to wear! That goes for kitchen cupboard space as well. We never have enough of it. And if we move to a new residence that appears to have plenty of available cupboard space, we fill it up until it is cluttered and packed full and then we need more space again. The need for more closet or cupboard space is unquenchable. Then there is our unquenchable desire to have more free time. But then we get bored and we are still not satisfied. It seems we always want more or we want different.

I suppose the reason I am noticing so many unquenched people is because we are quickly racing into the busy holiday season. Today is Halloween – and for some children, they will never have enough candy to be satisfied! I know that my own children were serious trick-or-treaters! (Drat that Greshel sweet-tooth!) But then we have Thanksgiving and, of course, Christmas. Stores are already putting out the holiday goods. Now I’m not knocking Christmas – because no matter how commercial it gets, it STILL is a great big birthday celebration for Jesus. But for today and everyday – I think we all need to not be so hungry. We all have plenty. And we all have enough … enough for today. More time, more stuff, more presents under the tree – will all feel like ‘too much’ eventually. And for all those things that we feel we do not have enough of – well – there’s always tomorrow and a chance for more. But tomorrow could also bring less.

I shall try today, and always, to give thanks for what I have. Since the time of Adam and Eve when the garden wasn’t good enough and Eve bit the apple – man has always lusted for more and better and bigger and beyond. Now I do like looking beyond … but for today? Yeah – I’m happy. I am quenched.

And now, in recognition of it being Halloween – here are three little serious Greshel trick-or-treaters. And I wasn’t kidding – the third picture is of young Jillian who, after some extensive trick-or-treating, literally collapsed on the bathroom floor in Halloween exhaustion! That was one instance where I think the sweet tooth WAS quenched!

Just Laurel