PHILIPPIANS 4:11
Last summer I went on a mission trip to Matamoros, Mexico, with a group of thirty youth and adults. We slept in Brownsville, Texas, and drove over the border each day to do Bible school with children in the village. They all lived in shacks made with pieces of scrap materials that had dirt floors. We went to help and teach them, but they ended up teaching us. The people in the village owned very little, so the children had few toys and clothes. Some of them came to VBS barefoot, and many wore the same clothes every day. Even though they certainly could use more things, they seemed content with what they did have: their friends and family. When we did crafts with them, they usually wanted to give what they had constructed or colored to us because they found joy in people more than in material things. God used this to show me that material things are not what make people happy. Since then, I have tried to appreciate what I already have and to not be anxious to buy more clothes, CDs, shoes, and other stuff. Although I often want more, I am slowly learning to be more like the kids in the village, content and thankful with what I do have.
Christina Jensen, 15, Dogwood Christian School, Asheville, NC
I want, I want, I want …
What I really want, Lord, is to stop wanting
so much and just praise You for what I have.