Kinda busy around here with the kiddies home for spring break this week (and we made a quick trip to Preston) so I don't have too much time to post, but I got these pictures the other day from Tom's mom and thought I'd share them here. They are taken in a very poor village near Guangzhou. I'm not sure what kind of feelings they evoke in you, but I kind of start feeling like I've got excess. 
With the help of a thesaurus, here are the words that describe my living situation compared to this: excessive, extreme, too much, unnecessary, unwarranted, undue, disproportionate, superfluous, surplus, not required, left over, spare, redundant, unjustifiable, needless, nonessential, luxury. . .
Tom's parents said that the young man that took them out to this village said that he grew up in huts such as this and now that he lives nicer, he is not any happier than he was then. . .food for thought, especially since that young man probably still lives much below my standard of living. To help with our lack of comparative gratitude, I printed this out for my bulletin board. I just keep looking at these pictures and come up with nothing to say for myself. We just have so so so much. Such a stark, harsh reminder. (click to enlarge)
3 comments:
In addition to all the "stuff" we have, how much time does it take to manage all our "stuff?" We really have to watch ourselves not to get so involved in the things of the world and then forget the important things in life. A continuing challenge, to be sure. Thanks for sharing the picture - indeed a harsh reminder!
Love, Mom
Thank you for posting this. It really reminded me that I have a lot that I take for granted. We are so blessed to live where we do and have the conveniences that make our life much easier.
I love your blog!
Alison
It's really like that. I have pictures like that from my mission in the Philippines. It's amazing that I can still have so much stuff after having seen the joy a simple life can bring people.
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