The story is told of a father of a wealthy family who took his son on a trip to the country to show his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog, and they have 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 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 sight. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have their friends to protect them."

With this, the boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

I got a chuckle from this one, because it shows very clearly, that often life is a matter of perspectives.  Have you ever spent any amount of time in life looking at someone else's situation, and wishing that you could trade places with them?

Today's Scripture:  Hebrews 13:5  

My wife has used the above scripture numerous times with our children.  I've even needed to be reminded from time to time.  Contentment doesn't come from "stuff," contentment comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have a great day and God bless!

Pastor Mike / The Open Word