Rich Girl

I will always remember a sermon given by my friend, Paul. He started by introducing the idea that the individuals sitting in the congregation were rich. I expected to hear a sermon about the fact that we were spiritually rich...crowned with blessings for being a part of the family of God, or were rich because we had a mansion in heaven waiting for us. Instead, Paul took the sermon in a different direction. He was, in fact, referring to monetary, physical riches. He had pages of statistics and figures that reminded us that the fact that we ate breakfast this morning or had a vehicle of any sort made us richer than most of the population of this world. That has always stuck with me, and it often comes to mind as I begin to feel squeezed in our two bedroom apartment. I was warned about how much stuff a baby would bring into your life, but I had no idea until I experienced it myself. There is literally a two foot wide path through our living room that we must maneuver to get from room to room. Lining the path are toys, baby equipment, blankets, carseats and other things that always need to be within arm's reach. Saturday we made the mistake of going to an open house for a new builder that's coming to town. The model home, of course, was decorated beautifully. It was an unusually nice March day in Mid Michigan, and sunlight was streaming into the brand new kitchen featuring granite countertops and ceramic tile. I imagined how much room we'd have to move around - to have friends over, to let our son learn to crawl in an area more than four square feet. I was instantly discontent. In another great sermon preached two days ago by my friend, Brandon, I was reminded that our circumstances in this life are often not comfortable. That it was never God's intention for us to live cushy, comfy lives that make us happy all the time. For some reason, in the season of life that we're in, God's best for us is this two bedroom apartment. He has things to teach us: possibly more reliance on his provision, maybe the joys that come with simplicity of life, perhaps something that I haven't even realized yet. So today I am looking at my surroundings with THANKFULNESS...recognizing that there are millions, if not billions of people in this world that would be so thankful for the oatmeal I ate for breakfast this morning or even one of the six pair of shoes strewn about the front door. It's a crazy ride to be on this journey with God. Today I'm so grateful for this simple stretch of highway he has me on.