I can't afford to buy the road bike I so desperately want for racing in my triathlons.
We need a new roof, our refrigerator is on it's last leg, and our oven sporadically stops working.
We haven't ever taken our kids on a vacation.
In the past year we had to unexpectedly buy two new cars, and a new furnace. Major purchases that were not budgeted for in advance.
I cry poverty and scream broke often. Last week, I got a wake up call. My oldest, and dearest friend, (if I were 12 I'd call her my BFF) sent me a text asking if we had any of The Big One's out grown clothes that were size 10 or 12 slim still. She teaches in an inner city school. There are many children in her school who truly have nothing. Some of them see a crayon for the first time when they enter her class the first day of kindergarten. And there was a little boy, a fifth grader at her school, who was wearing his sister's hand me downs to school. He had no clothes of his own. This child was wearing girls jeans, that were too small for him. And my amazing friend (who is truly a saint, but that deserves an entire post) went out and bought him two pairs of shorts so he would have something else to wear. I was pretty sure we had some clothes down in the basement that would fit him. After my unsuccessful yard sale last year I took a lot to Rescue Mission, but there was still bags and bags in the basement.
So I went through some bags until I found shorts and t-shirts in this boys size. we had 9 pairs of shorts, 5 t-shirts, 1 long sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of pajama bottoms. In this box were Nike, Under Armor, Abercrombie, and Puma items. This boy probably hadn't even heard of some of these brands, let alone owned them. As I was packing up the box to ship out (BFF lives over an hour away) the boys were very interested in why I was sending these clothes to her. Her kids are 2 and 11 months. None of these big boy clothes would fit them. So I explained that there was a little boy who didn't have any clothes of his own, and had to wear his sisters. Bubba asked why he didn't get them for his birthday? Or if his parents couldn't buy him clothes, why didn't Santa bring them. My five year old couldn't wrap his head around the idea that this little boy had nothing. How could his parents buy his sister clothes, and not him?
I shipped the box out that day, and two days later BFF's hubby brought them to school (they teach in the same school) and he and the boy went through the box together. To this little boy this box of clothes that has been sitting in the basement was like a treasure chest. It was like Christmas morning for him. And I could probably provide clothes for 10 more kids just like him. We have bags and boxes piled high in the basement.
I realize now that we are blessed. I may have a leak in my roof, and I'm training on a mountain bike, but we have a roof, and I have a bike.
We need a new roof, our refrigerator is on it's last leg, and our oven sporadically stops working.
We haven't ever taken our kids on a vacation.
In the past year we had to unexpectedly buy two new cars, and a new furnace. Major purchases that were not budgeted for in advance.
I cry poverty and scream broke often. Last week, I got a wake up call. My oldest, and dearest friend, (if I were 12 I'd call her my BFF) sent me a text asking if we had any of The Big One's out grown clothes that were size 10 or 12 slim still. She teaches in an inner city school. There are many children in her school who truly have nothing. Some of them see a crayon for the first time when they enter her class the first day of kindergarten. And there was a little boy, a fifth grader at her school, who was wearing his sister's hand me downs to school. He had no clothes of his own. This child was wearing girls jeans, that were too small for him. And my amazing friend (who is truly a saint, but that deserves an entire post) went out and bought him two pairs of shorts so he would have something else to wear. I was pretty sure we had some clothes down in the basement that would fit him. After my unsuccessful yard sale last year I took a lot to Rescue Mission, but there was still bags and bags in the basement.
So I went through some bags until I found shorts and t-shirts in this boys size. we had 9 pairs of shorts, 5 t-shirts, 1 long sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of pajama bottoms. In this box were Nike, Under Armor, Abercrombie, and Puma items. This boy probably hadn't even heard of some of these brands, let alone owned them. As I was packing up the box to ship out (BFF lives over an hour away) the boys were very interested in why I was sending these clothes to her. Her kids are 2 and 11 months. None of these big boy clothes would fit them. So I explained that there was a little boy who didn't have any clothes of his own, and had to wear his sisters. Bubba asked why he didn't get them for his birthday? Or if his parents couldn't buy him clothes, why didn't Santa bring them. My five year old couldn't wrap his head around the idea that this little boy had nothing. How could his parents buy his sister clothes, and not him?
I shipped the box out that day, and two days later BFF's hubby brought them to school (they teach in the same school) and he and the boy went through the box together. To this little boy this box of clothes that has been sitting in the basement was like a treasure chest. It was like Christmas morning for him. And I could probably provide clothes for 10 more kids just like him. We have bags and boxes piled high in the basement.
I realize now that we are blessed. I may have a leak in my roof, and I'm training on a mountain bike, but we have a roof, and I have a bike.
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