My mother brought this short story up the other day and I loved it. So, I thought I would share it with you ...
"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 the poor people live?' the father asked.
'Oh, yes,' said the son.
'So, tell me, what did you learn 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,
'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.'" Perspective ...
For the past four days all three kids have been pretty sick. Lou had his first day back at school today but Maria and Regina are still flat-out on the couch. Fevers, sore throats, coughs and now Regina is throwing-up ... I hate when the kids are sick. I feel so helpless. Tony and I have been trading shifts - he was up 4 times last night and I get them all day when he is at work. I keep asking if there's anything I can do, if there's anything they need - because, when they're feeling so awful, I would give them anything they asked for if I thought it would help them feel better. The only thing they want (aside from the occasional popsicle :0) is for me to hold them, cuddle with them, rub their heads/stomachs/backs/feet ... and just be near. Every once in awhile, one of them calls out for Tony or I and we coming running. Most of the time they just need to tell us that their throat hurts or their tummy hurts. They just need us to know and understand. It's the simplest of human connections.
No wonder God call us his children.Well, Regina needs me to hold her hair back while she ... well ... you know. The glamorous life of a MOM - I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
1 comments:
We had "the sickness" a couple of weeks ago when John's sis and family were here...the fun never ends.
Have time for coffee next week sometime?
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