There are days when I just can't get wrapped around how spoiled I really am. I'm blessed with a wife who loves me, a little white fuzzball who also loves me, a home, a regular job, a car and many material possessions. I have so many possessions that I forget that I have stuff. Yet I don't consider myself to be a materialistic person. When I am asked what I want for my birthday, I say I don't know. When asked what I need for my birthday, I say I don't need anything. My wife really hates that. I don't do it to be annoying, I really mean it. Still doesn't mean that I'm not materialistic. I like to think I'm not materialistic, but the truth is, I have, upon reflection, become desensitized to my materialism. This is evidenced by my having to repair my own car today. I called a mechanic to see if he could do it, but he was too busy, and couldn't take the job. I decided that I would try to work it in. Everything was going great and then the half to one hour job turned into an all day job, due to the fact that I snapped a bolt off in the thermostat housing, and a four hour interruption during the job to sit in the dentist's chair, and run several errands in a borrowed car. To make a long story a little longer, the car is not fixed. I haven't done the 'no car thing' for several years. I have to find a proper replacement part tomorrow when things are open. I have no transportation tonight, aside from my feet. Good thing I have nowhere to go. My feet are tired. Ha ha.
Compare me to little Thammu. Thammu lives in brand new house. She and her family built their new house last year after her father's fishing boat was destroyed by the tsunami that hit the shores of her village on December 26th, 2004. This was a great expense for her family. Her family's house cost forty dollars (U.S.), is constructed largely of palm fronds and has a dirt floor, and the fishing boat was their soul source of income. She was thrilled last year when, for her birthday, she received a small monetary gift, and after picking out a comb and a mirror for herself, was able to buy her mother some small cooking utensils with the leftover money. With her own birthday money. She is just nine years old. Her family doesn't own a car. Her father can't just drive to a job where his work is lined out for him and a paycheck is pretty sure to show up at the end of each week. She and they have to struggle for everything they own and I doubt sincerely that they have ever been to a dentist. Sigh.
Above it all, is the Most High God, Who provided me with all of my material possessions, and her with the kind of appreciation and outlook she has. I'm not being self-deprecating. I try to appreciate what He has given me, and to use it well for His glory. I'm just saying that I had lost a little bit of perspective here, and knowing Thammu has helped me to be a little less materialistic and a little less desensitized to my materialism than I was.
After all, I still forget that I have stuff.