I used to chase The Good Life. You know the Good Life. It’s the one where struggles prove few, material possessions many, and the needs of others lounge in the backseat, think the back of a Suburban. Way back, the back, back.
I’m not sure when this Good Life chasing began, but I know when the effects of Good Life chasing grabbed me by the shoulders, stared me in the face, and shook me.
The conversation went like this:
“I don’t know any poor people,” stated my mini-me of a daughter.
“What? Of course you know people who go without,” I snapped.
Blank stare.
“Um, yes. There are kids in your class who don’t have enough to eat.”
Blank stare.
“And kids all over the world go without.”
Blank stare. Losing interest.
“Like in Africa (Africa, always a good go-to). In Africa, kids don’t have enough food and some kids even have to walk miles for water (I mean Matt Damon mentioned something about water right?).”
Interest is now lost, as mini-me twirls a loose thread on her pajamas.
The end.
Mini-me didn’t care about people with less, and I failed in a colossal way to explain the idea of poverty.
I pondered how my girl grew to eight, and people with less never came up, and I’m not going to lie, I felt physically sick.
That moment at the kitchen table is when I knew I didn’t want cardstock awards, soccer trophies, or picture perfect photos from our latest vacation. This is when I started to think serving others meant more than serving the girl who stared back at me from the mirror.
And that’s our story or at least the beginning of the Sullivan family’s story. Thankfully, our ideas about serving God and serving others didn’t end there. Now, we drag our kids to all kinds of crazy places, we go without water on purpose, and my kids know the names of people with less.
We work to chase things that don’t break or fade. Things like truth, justice, and Him.
What do you find yourself chasing?