When Stuff Makes You Sad

"Why are you crying?!" I asked a particularly distraught child one day, as she was finishing a Popsicle I had given her.

"(Cousin's name) is playing with my [insert favorite-toy-of-the-day here]!"

Okaaaay. Let's leave aside the fact that its' a beautiful day at the playground, all of us are healthy, we're snacking on yummy sugary treats, and we get to be with our cousins. God's in His Heaven, kiddo, and all is right with the world. But, for this little girl, all was not right with the world. She doesn't have a particular THING and it was making her miserable.

Now, as parents we all desire to give our children the best we can. We make sacrifices so that we can go on vacations with them. We put them in activities. We ensure that they have birthday and Christmas presents, and a maybe even a phone that won't embarrass them when they pull it out in front of their friends. And why not? We have good things. We love our children. So why wouldn't we want to give the ones we love good things?!

I remembered a recent visit with missionaries who had spent time among the poorest communities in other countries. They had a surprising observation: even though the people they were serving had nothing, they were happy. Actually, they were joy-filled.

Ironically, studies show that depression rates are actually higher in developed countries that in poor communities like the ones my friends serve in. St. Mother Teresa once famously said that we in the Western world suffered not from a poverty of things, but a poverty of love.

For that myopic moment in the park, my poor girl could only focus on what she didn't have. She was so worried about this thing that she didn't have room for joy.

Well, it opened up a blinding insight into my own heart: Where is the center of my attention? Is it on all that I have, or all that I lack? In that moment, I determined that we would all have to work much harder to ensure that our children are brought up with a healthy attitude toward the things that they possess, or else those things may end up possessing them.

So while my response to my distraught little girl was important, it was even more necessary that it echo in my own heart as well:

"God's in His Heaven, and all is right with the world. And for Heaven's sake: don't let stuff make you sad!"