Recently, I read a story and it has caused me to reflect on how I am living my life and evaluating if my choices today will make a difference tomorrow in the world around me. Here is that story entitled “What it means to be poor?” One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh Yeah” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.” With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.” Too many times we focus on what we don’t have rather than give thanks for what we do. My family’s income is supplemented by the understanding that one person’s worthless object is another person’s prized possession. I relate to that because as I look in the mirror I see by the world’s standards I am worthless to the majority of people, but to God, I‘m priceless. I have based my life on the perspective that investing in “everyday time” with family and friends is more important than extra money in the bank or a week’s vacation once a year as an escape from life. The oldest child in my home is twelve and she can’t really remember many times in her life when I wasn’t there when she woke up or went to sleep. I have been blessed beyond measure by being where God has me and Him allowing me to be available to minister in the various ways that I do in and out of my home. I do not believe that I created every aspect of my situation but I am thankful to be where God has me today. I know from the outside looking in, that there are so many things I could have done differently. The parts that make up my life today, I wouldn’t trade them for anything. The struggles, the heartache, the pain, the loss of the world’s treasure, it’s all worth it because it has helped me become who I am and see what is really important, the family and friends that God has given me to minister to. Serving God with sacrifice is worth it. Serving my family as sacrifice is worth it. I’m worth it. I pray those around me see that everything that my family goes through we go through together, the good, the bad, the challenges, the blessings, the long days and the sleepless nights. The mental and emotional heartache we all face, we face together. My family has so much good and yet most of the world only sees the difficulties and challenges and says it’s a bad thing to be who we are. By God’s grace, we will continue to endure and praise God in the process for the blessings, especially the ones that the world around us may see as a curse, for we boldly proclaim what is written in *Psalms 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.* My beloved, I encourage you to take joy in all you have, not in your possessions but your family and friends because today is a gift, that is why it is referred to as the “present” and keep in mind that time goes by fast, so I challenge you to focus on enjoying and doing things so interesting and fun that you forget about time itself and live for the moments, focus on the moments. Make memories today, make new memories while you still can because in a moment, everything can all pass away. May the grace and peace of God guide your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to fulfill His purpose for you today for tomorrow is not promised. In Christ Love, douglas. HE>i. pastord.blog

To any who are interested, please feel free to reach out to me with prayer requests, questions, encouragement, or for information on how to come alongside me with financial support for the ministry activities that God has entrusted to me at pastord.blog@gmail.com