I wrote this almost 6 years ago ... and never felt led to hit "publish". Over the last 3 years, a great deal has changed in our life and home, most notably is that I now work with VIPkid and we live in an apartment. God has blessed us beyond what we asked.
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According to the American poverty statistics, my family is poor.
This video is fairly accurate .... http://www.povertyusa.org/the-state-of-poverty/poverty-usa-tour/
BUT ...
I found this "How Rich Are You?" tool ... and while I'm not 100% sure how accurate it is, I'm pretty sure it is close. And according to that - we are in the top 15% of the world. At least 84% of the world makes less than we do ...
I did notice that this does not take into consideration how many people live in your family.
BUT ... even if we only brought in $4000 a year - we would STILL be in the top 15%.
Now, while in America, family sizes tend to be 2 or 3 children - in 3rd world countries families are often 5 or more children. I think this widens the gap even farther.
But I'm not here to complain about being poor ... because on most days - we don't notice it much.
Most day's I'm really thankful for how rich we are.
Just look at all of these BLESSINGS!
1. We have a house - it's a trailer house, and it's really drafty and the walls are thin. BUT it has nearly 1000 sq. ft, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a (usually) working kitchen, and too much furniture. The roof doesn't leak (even though a few windows do). It sits on my parents property - so we don't pay rent nor a house payment. How many people can say they have that much space, locking doors, running water, adequate sewage removal, warm beds ... and other benefits of having your own walls and your own land? Not only that, but we also have cooling and heating!
2. We have plenty of clothes and shoes and bedding - we have lots of friends and relatives - there always seems to be somebody available to give us clothes. We carefully store our bedding each Spring, so we have plenty of blankets - and we stay warm, even when a storm knocks out the electricity. Sometimes shoes are a bit of a challenge - but usually if I let it be known that we've moved to a new shoe size - somebody meets that need. When Scholar suddenly grew out of his summer sandals, a friend found a pair at a garage sale, and a cousin sent some down that her son could no longer wear along with a bonus pair of shoes for church, which was a huge blessing! Sunshine got so many clothes given to her at 12 months, that I donated half of them - even after 3 other friends and relatives pulled items out for their daughters. Who cares if they are second hand - they all still looked great!
3. We eat. Not just one meal a day, we eat 3 times a day, and the young ones get a snack. Some meals are bland and quite repetitive, but we are nowhere close to doing without completely. When our cupboards were getting very low this summer, and we were down to mostly beans (of all types) and rice, when we had no cereal or peanut butter ..... A friend brought us 5 or 6 large boxes of food - a friend of hers was cleaning out her pantry ... could we use the food? Inside were 10 boxes of cereal, 2 jars of peanut butter, and lots of seasoning and veggies and lots more. It didn't matter to us if the exp date was getting close - this was manna from heaven! And even had we not gotten those boxes - we would not have starved - because we still are pulling out and fixing "mystery packages" from our freezer. I really need to label our left overs better.
4. We have cell phones. Both of us. Nothing fancy and nothing new.
5. We have a paid for van. It is ours and it is pretty faithful. Cars don't last forever though - so we are wondering how God will provide that need when we get there. We've been down the road of "car repairs exceed the cost of a car payment every month" at least twice before, so we've been blessed that over the last 3 years, this car has not needed a lot of expensive repairs. We live out in the country - walking on a high traffic highway is not an option, and we don't have public transportation out here - or even many friends nearby to carpool. So a car that transports 8 is a HUGE blessing - the kids can bring friends home on Sunday from church!
6. I have 4 amazing kids that I am able to homeschool. And even though I was not able to afford any new curriculum this year - we've been able to adapt or borrow anything that we really needed. Because I've homeschooled for 15 years, I have a ton of resources at my fingertips. I consider my children my absolute most prized "possessions". They are priceless.
7. We have internet - it's not the fastest connection - but it is faster than dial-up. And with 5 computers using it for school and job searches, it has paid for itself a dozen times over. Yes, we have a lot of OLD computers. They also take up a lot of space - which is why I am so grateful that my Dad allows us to use part of his house to school in every day. With the internet, I have access to ideas, information, and friends and family all day and all night.
8. We can freely attend church. Every one of my kids has their own Bible. I have a ton of Bible resources and tools that we own - some belonged to our parents - but they are easily available. We don't sneak to church, or huddle with flashlights with a forbidden copy of the Bible. My kids can sing their church songs and practice their memory verses outside as much as they want to ... and it's OK. I must also mention all of the friends and relatives that pray for us daily.
9. My kids have toys ... tons of toys. Between hand me downs and pass it arounds and a couple of generous relatives at Christmas - we have dolls, blocks, trains, Little People, tinker toys, legos, videos to watch, computer games (for PC), books to read, cars, bikes, and more. Some days it can get rather overwhelming.
They don't have the latest gadgets or the latest toys - we don't know the latest fads, music, movies, or TV shows ... and we really don't miss them much. It is tons of fun to play with a cousin's Wii ... or watch movies on their iphones and ipads ... but when we come home at night, we are not moping about what we don't have. They still read with the old Leap Pads, work puzzles by hand, and dig for treasure in real dirt. I actually am quite amused at what my kids do wish for at birthday's and Christmas - sometimes is it quite unusual.
10. The "Stuff" of life. We have dishes, pots and pans, freezers, gizmos, knick nacks, cameras, canisters, VCRs, and so much STUFF. It is amazing how much you can acquire without even trying. I'm not a shopper - and yet my house steadily fills up. Some stuff is hand me downs or "family heirlooms", some we've had forever, most of it was given to us through the years. This summer, I've been going through my mom's things (you know, she didn't take it with her when she died - and she only wore one set of clothes and a bit of jewelry when they buried her) and over and over I've wondered how we all manage to accumulate so much of so little real value. And with so many people purging their homes of clutter ... it is very easy to come by more stuff!
Bonus: The one thing that makes me the richest though ... my salvation. No matter how poor I consider myself, no matter how rich I could ever become ... it is all worthless if I have turned my back on Christ's offer of salvation. Most of my family feels the same way, as do most of my friends. It will be a wonderful and joyful occasion as we each check out our mansions in heaven, and giggle and smile and hug and sing our way through eternity.
Yeah - I'm RICH.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the American poverty statistics, my family is poor.
This video is fairly accurate .... http://www.povertyusa.org/the-state-of-poverty/poverty-usa-tour/
BUT ...
I found this "How Rich Are You?" tool ... and while I'm not 100% sure how accurate it is, I'm pretty sure it is close. And according to that - we are in the top 15% of the world. At least 84% of the world makes less than we do ...
I did notice that this does not take into consideration how many people live in your family.
BUT ... even if we only brought in $4000 a year - we would STILL be in the top 15%.
Now, while in America, family sizes tend to be 2 or 3 children - in 3rd world countries families are often 5 or more children. I think this widens the gap even farther.
But I'm not here to complain about being poor ... because on most days - we don't notice it much.
Most day's I'm really thankful for how rich we are.
Just look at all of these BLESSINGS!
1. We have a house - it's a trailer house, and it's really drafty and the walls are thin. BUT it has nearly 1000 sq. ft, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a (usually) working kitchen, and too much furniture. The roof doesn't leak (even though a few windows do). It sits on my parents property - so we don't pay rent nor a house payment. How many people can say they have that much space, locking doors, running water, adequate sewage removal, warm beds ... and other benefits of having your own walls and your own land? Not only that, but we also have cooling and heating!
2. We have plenty of clothes and shoes and bedding - we have lots of friends and relatives - there always seems to be somebody available to give us clothes. We carefully store our bedding each Spring, so we have plenty of blankets - and we stay warm, even when a storm knocks out the electricity. Sometimes shoes are a bit of a challenge - but usually if I let it be known that we've moved to a new shoe size - somebody meets that need. When Scholar suddenly grew out of his summer sandals, a friend found a pair at a garage sale, and a cousin sent some down that her son could no longer wear along with a bonus pair of shoes for church, which was a huge blessing! Sunshine got so many clothes given to her at 12 months, that I donated half of them - even after 3 other friends and relatives pulled items out for their daughters. Who cares if they are second hand - they all still looked great!
3. We eat. Not just one meal a day, we eat 3 times a day, and the young ones get a snack. Some meals are bland and quite repetitive, but we are nowhere close to doing without completely. When our cupboards were getting very low this summer, and we were down to mostly beans (of all types) and rice, when we had no cereal or peanut butter ..... A friend brought us 5 or 6 large boxes of food - a friend of hers was cleaning out her pantry ... could we use the food? Inside were 10 boxes of cereal, 2 jars of peanut butter, and lots of seasoning and veggies and lots more. It didn't matter to us if the exp date was getting close - this was manna from heaven! And even had we not gotten those boxes - we would not have starved - because we still are pulling out and fixing "mystery packages" from our freezer. I really need to label our left overs better.
4. We have cell phones. Both of us. Nothing fancy and nothing new.
5. We have a paid for van. It is ours and it is pretty faithful. Cars don't last forever though - so we are wondering how God will provide that need when we get there. We've been down the road of "car repairs exceed the cost of a car payment every month" at least twice before, so we've been blessed that over the last 3 years, this car has not needed a lot of expensive repairs. We live out in the country - walking on a high traffic highway is not an option, and we don't have public transportation out here - or even many friends nearby to carpool. So a car that transports 8 is a HUGE blessing - the kids can bring friends home on Sunday from church!
6. I have 4 amazing kids that I am able to homeschool. And even though I was not able to afford any new curriculum this year - we've been able to adapt or borrow anything that we really needed. Because I've homeschooled for 15 years, I have a ton of resources at my fingertips. I consider my children my absolute most prized "possessions". They are priceless.
7. We have internet - it's not the fastest connection - but it is faster than dial-up. And with 5 computers using it for school and job searches, it has paid for itself a dozen times over. Yes, we have a lot of OLD computers. They also take up a lot of space - which is why I am so grateful that my Dad allows us to use part of his house to school in every day. With the internet, I have access to ideas, information, and friends and family all day and all night.
8. We can freely attend church. Every one of my kids has their own Bible. I have a ton of Bible resources and tools that we own - some belonged to our parents - but they are easily available. We don't sneak to church, or huddle with flashlights with a forbidden copy of the Bible. My kids can sing their church songs and practice their memory verses outside as much as they want to ... and it's OK. I must also mention all of the friends and relatives that pray for us daily.
9. My kids have toys ... tons of toys. Between hand me downs and pass it arounds and a couple of generous relatives at Christmas - we have dolls, blocks, trains, Little People, tinker toys, legos, videos to watch, computer games (for PC), books to read, cars, bikes, and more. Some days it can get rather overwhelming.
They don't have the latest gadgets or the latest toys - we don't know the latest fads, music, movies, or TV shows ... and we really don't miss them much. It is tons of fun to play with a cousin's Wii ... or watch movies on their iphones and ipads ... but when we come home at night, we are not moping about what we don't have. They still read with the old Leap Pads, work puzzles by hand, and dig for treasure in real dirt. I actually am quite amused at what my kids do wish for at birthday's and Christmas - sometimes is it quite unusual.
10. The "Stuff" of life. We have dishes, pots and pans, freezers, gizmos, knick nacks, cameras, canisters, VCRs, and so much STUFF. It is amazing how much you can acquire without even trying. I'm not a shopper - and yet my house steadily fills up. Some stuff is hand me downs or "family heirlooms", some we've had forever, most of it was given to us through the years. This summer, I've been going through my mom's things (you know, she didn't take it with her when she died - and she only wore one set of clothes and a bit of jewelry when they buried her) and over and over I've wondered how we all manage to accumulate so much of so little real value. And with so many people purging their homes of clutter ... it is very easy to come by more stuff!
Bonus: The one thing that makes me the richest though ... my salvation. No matter how poor I consider myself, no matter how rich I could ever become ... it is all worthless if I have turned my back on Christ's offer of salvation. Most of my family feels the same way, as do most of my friends. It will be a wonderful and joyful occasion as we each check out our mansions in heaven, and giggle and smile and hug and sing our way through eternity.
Yeah - I'm RICH.
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