I have been contiplating this a lot lately & happen to run across this article on the net. We will be in the process of moving once we sell our home. I thought this was a great perspective that basically that sends the message that our possessions dont really define who we really are. We are not the car we drive or the house we live in since everything belongs to God anyway.
Joel and I have aquired a lot of stuff in our 8 year marriage-- so I am letting this be a helpful guide as we plan what to keep and what to give away. One of my most prized possesions is a old & tattered, worn out Bible that belonged to my Grandfather that I inherited when my father went home to be with the Lord in 2002.
The pages are worn and yellow; but as I turn each page-- they remind me a lot of who I am. I know my heritage defines who I really am a whole lot more than what I could ever own while living here on Earth & that really means a lot to me. :)
On Faith
Ann Thomas Rinker
http://www.gazette.net/stories/092806/fredcol180153_31953.shtml
Can you imagine what it might be like if you were to lose everything you own in a fire or flood or in some other way?
What one thing would you miss the most? What items do you feel you couldn’t live without?
What are your greatest material possessions?
I was flipping the channels this morning and caught a story on one of the morning shows about family who had lost their home and all their earthly goods in a fire.
I am not certain how long ago this occurred, but I do know that the house was gone; all possessions, everything, lay in ashes.
The family had been on vacation at the time of the fire and came home to find a shell of a building where there home once stood.
The wife and mother of this family, Betsy Kramer, did not appear on television for our pity, but for us to learn something from her loss.
She told the interviewer that at first she felt as if she ‘‘wasn’t strong enough” to handle the situation. Then she noticed her daughter sleeping.
Looking up at what was the little girl’s room, she realized that ‘‘all was not lost because her child was spared; her family was safe.”
It took losing everything for her to realize just how unimportant these things actually were.
The family now lives in a newly constructed house and their possessions have been streamlined to include only what they truly need.
Today, the woman works as a professional organizer helping others get their lives in order, relieving them of the clutter which can control them.
She said she hopes her work enables her clients to embrace what is really important and to recognize what truly creates happiness in one’s life.
A bit later I flipped to another channel and soon became mesmerized by a story about a young man who was born with a disorder that left him without leg muscles.
Even after multiple surgeries his legs remain limp, much like soggy spaghetti noodles. At 15, he made what would be an important decision; he decided to teach himself to break dance.
Dance he does and boy can he wow the crowds with his self-taught abilities. He has even won awards in dance competitions.
He credits his parents with teaching him to reach his highest potential, citing his dad’s advice, ‘‘Your first failure is not to try.”
This young man, known to his fans as ‘‘Lazy Legs,” uses his time going to schools for deaf and disabled children, giving talks and demonstrations to motivate them to reach their potentials.
It was amazing to witness the children’s response to this man, Luca Patuelli. He tells his listeners, ‘‘maybe you can’t have it all, but you can have what is important.”
His encouragement and personal triumphs allow these disabled kids to dream dreams that they perhaps had never dared before.
Ms. Kramer and Mr. Patuelli show, by their examples and in telling their stories, just how precious life is, in all of its forms.
Happiness doesn’t come from things any more than the fact that our possessions should not define who we are.
We are more than our physical abilities or limitations. We are the spirit within us.
Our treasures are our God-given bodies; our loved ones; our dear friends; our hopes and dreams. We are not the car we drive; the fancy house we live in, the crowd we run around with; or the way we look, dress, or feel. We are so much more than that.
As children of God we are the spirit of love made in His image. What a gift it is to hear the stories of Betsy Kramer and Luca Patuelli. Will our own stories be as inspiring to others? Will they be as faithful to God’s hope for our lives?
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