Rich

My son likes going to church. I mean, really likes listening to the sermon and soaking in what is said. My kids have been with me in children's church for many years, so we spent a lot of time talking about the lessons we covered there. But now he is a big kid, 11, and attends the regular service with the adults and his youth group.

A few months back, our pastor did a sermon about being rich. We've talked about this particular sermon often over the last few months. But a few days ago, it really struck me that this is one of those life changing thoughts for my son. You know, you can say things to your kids 100 times in 100 different ways, but when they hear someone else say it, it clicks for them. This was a "click" topic.

So when our pastor explained that people in other countries don't have cars, closets full of clothes, or even more than one meal a day to eat, my son paid attention. It made me remember an email I got a long time ago. So I searched through my gazillion saved messages and found it to share with you.

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One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:
I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "I never realized how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.
Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Life is too short and friends are too few. I thank God for each of you!