Reality check...

This past Sunday morning on the way to church, my kids were in the back of the van and my son says "Momma, can we go to Disney now?" and I explain that it is an expensive trip and we may try to do it this fall if we aren't in the middle of building a house. My daughter then chimes in to say, "Well Mom, you know we have to go on vacation EVERY year, so what's the big deal?"

WOW! What are we doing? You know, they are right, we normally do go somewhere each year either on a real vacation or a business trip with my husband. This is a vacation for the kids and I since we take in the sights of whatever big city it may be.

When I grew up, we were very poor and I was raised by my Grandmother, I had never left the state of Virginia my entire life except for a weekend trip to Nags Head with her cousin and his wife. I never went on any vacation as a grown single woman unless it was weekend trip with some friends. My daughter had been to Disney 5 times before the age of 6 and had been to at least 1/2 the states on the east coast AND had been on a cruise to the Bahamas. My son has traveled only slightly less than that since she has a 3 year head start on him.....That is their reality of the world.....

We have been told time and time again on the news and by different missionary Evangelists that come to our church, that even the poorest person in the US is considered wealthier than over 90% of people of the planet. I was not in the church service this past Sunday due to working in the children's dept, but my sister-in-law relayed part of Pastor Grant Ethridge's sermon as we chatted after church.

Our church is really focusing this year (every year really, but even more so this year) on reaching out to the lower income communities in our area. We are having Block Parties each weekend in different neighborhoods. They had one this past Saturday (while we were at another church event for the kids). The pastor told about this young boy that he and his wife noticed at the first Block Party. The pastor told his first name and I do not for the life of me remember it but apparently he was a young boy. Our Pastor and his wife have the sweetest, loving spirits and always reach out to people. They talked to this young boy when they noticed that he was looking at these packs of socks that our church was giving away. Pastor Grant asked if he would like a pack of socks and the boy asked if they were free. Pastor said of course, go ahead and get a pack. The young boy sat down that very moment and put on a pair of the socks and was so thrilled to have them. They later noticed the same young boy when they were passing out hotdogs and other food items. He got his hotdog and was eating it like he was starved. Not only did he eat his, but he was going around to see if anyone did not finish theirs and was finishing up whatever he found. Now if this is not enough to tug at your heart about the life that some young children in our very own country are living...The pastor and his wife left that block party and drove 7 mins. to another neighborhood for the second Block Party our church was having that day. It took them 7 mins. to drive to the next neighborhood, so I have to assume that it was at least 2-3 miles away. They said that they had been there a while and when it was time to pass out the food, they saw the same young boy walking up to the party. They went to speak to him, and asked how he got there. The young boy said that he had walked there because he was still hungry and wanted to get another hotdog....This is his reality......

My kids are not allowed to walk out of the yard without us. This child attended a Block Party alone just to get the free food, just to have a chance to have a full belly. This child acted like it was Christmas morning when he got a pack of socks. This child walked 2-3 miles alone across a part of town that my kids have never set foot in, just in the attempt to get a HOTDOG. Neither of my kids will touch a hotdog, because both say that they are NASTY. My kids throw away happy meals that are barely touched because they just asked for them to get the toy. My kids are complaining because they haven't been to Disney in two years...REALITY CHECK......

This coming weekend, our church is having another Block Party in another low income neighborhood, my family will be attending because we need it even more than the people we are trying to help. We need to see all that we have to be thankful for. We need a reality check.....

In a couple of weeks our church, on the Saturday before Easter, will be passing out boxes of food that our middle and high schoolers have packed. These boxes of food will feed a family of four for a week. If you think about it, if we ,who have plenty of food, consider this enough food for a week, those who don't, may consider this enough for for several weeks....I am determined that me and my family will be there to help pass out this food......We need a reality check.....

Do you and your family need a reality check?