“I walk into a grocery store, and I have to go on my knees for a piece of bread. A rich man can walk into the store and buy himself a piece of cake.”
We were bringing some of the kids from the township to the surf ministry. Already, we were running late, and we still had a 30-minute walk in front of us. But, he waved us over and started to talk. Started to tell us that we were a blessing, that so few kids in the township choose good, that so few choose to follow Jesus and instead walk the path of drugs, violence, and destruction instead. He explained why he stopped us:
“We are blessed because of Jesus. Sometimes, you have to stop and encourage someone, because they may be dry, but we have the fruit of the Spirit to offer each other. There is always something to eat in the Kingdom of God.”
We give the kids something to eat once they’re done surfing- a sandwich, a piece of fruit. Today, as I was preparing the sandwiches, I realized that we had some extra bread on hand that would probably get moldy if we left it over the weekend. “Should we bring this home with us?” I asked the other racers with me. One of the boys stopped me. “Can I take it home?” he asked.
Our teams went food shopping for the week today; and, I just counted 22 loaves of bread in our hostel’s kitchen. Considering that there are 23 of us here, and we are mostly living off of toast, PB & J, and grilled cheese, the bread count is probably just about right. But, it strikes me that I take for granted what so many others would consider a blessing.
As I finished making the cheese sandwiches, I scraped the last bit of spread out of the jar and tossed it in the trash. The same boy stopped me. “Don’t throw that out! There’s still some left!”
The weight of my ingratitude is slowly breaking my heart. How many blessings have I overlooked? What has God provided that I’ve ignored, or, even worse, criticized? This isn’t about feeling guilty for having more, it’s about being grateful. It’s about not calling something less that the rest of the world would call luxury. It’s about exhaling “thank you” with each breath instead of letting “I want” suffocate us.
We split the extra bread evenly among the kids who were there and gave the jar to the boy who asked for it. The words of the man in the township were still with me, meaning so much more than they did just a few hours ago.
“I may be poor on earth, but I am rich because of Jesus.”
Thank you, God, for the rich man who gave this poor girl some food today.
