As long as I can remember I have lived a life of affluence. The dictionary defines affluence as a plentiful supply of material goods, wealth, a great quantity or an abundance.
As a child in Zambia, even as missionaries, we were affluent. We drove to the village churches in a car while everyone else walked; some walking for miles. Our home was made of concrete blocks while theirs were round mud huts with thatched roofs. While we had an indoor bathroom, they used the bush to relieve themselves and bathed in a nearby river.
As an adult, I was still affluent. My maids always helped me pack and unpack after taking our annual trip back to the United States. The airplanes we flew in were only birds in the sky to them, a source of amazement and a sign of inconceivable wealth.
While most the world waits out the night with a raging fever, we have a constant supply of medicines in our cabinet. They wait till day break to make the trek to the nearest pharmacy to buy one or two pills. If they still feel bad later in the day, they will purchase two more. My workers always described my medicine cabinet as the pharmacy and would come to me for Tylenol for any family member or neighbor suffering from a fever, headache or muscle strain.
I have always been affluent. It is something I have been grateful for yet also felt a little apologetic and even embarrassed by. Yet, if it wasn’t for my affluence, I would not have had Tylenol to share with those less fortunate. If it were not for the car, my parents could not have shared Christ’s love with those far out in the bush in Africa. If we did not have money, we couldn’t have hired maids and put their children through school and given them medical care.
Today, we don’t life the life of affluence we once did. My husband is not longer a high powered executive as God has called him to be a missions pastor in the United States. Through a serious of circumstances, most of our worldly possessions were taken away. Yet, relatively speaking, we are rich. If I had desired, I could have purchased a new Easter dress this year. Most the world would never dream of such indulgence. We have four family members in college, never lack for food and have a never ending shelf of books to read. There is hot water in my shower, a tube that blows heat into my house on cold days, and insurance to replace the car my daughter just totaled.
In my wallet are five dollar gift certificates to McDonalds to hand out to anyone who is in need of food and my pantry is full of food, always ready for entertaining a stranger in disguise.
So, today, I thank God for the affluence He has blessed me with. For in blessing me, He has allowed me to bless others.
Linked with Ann at A Multitude on Mondays