Christa, I dropped back into this thread to say that your post had a profound impact on me. I read it early yesterday, and so much of it continues to stay with me. I was telling my hubby about it over lunch today, and I realized again how life-giving your words are. We too have travelled to very poor countries and seen first-hand how they could easily live on what we here in North America throw away. So many of our beautiful dear friends in Cuba, for example, have no running water, one lightbulb to light an entire house (but only when the electricity actually works), a small one-burner stove on which to cook and entire meal for the whole family, one pair of shoes (often well-worn and ragged), and the list goes on. We bring lots of stuff to them, and they are so grateful. One picture that forever stays in my mind is when we give them brand-new clothing (especially underwear) and they SMELL it and their eyes light up with such pleasure at the smell of new clothes.

Thank you for your post, and your reminder of just how rich we truly are. There are ALWAYS others better off and always others poorer off than we are. One beautiful lesson we've learned from spending so much time with our "poorer" friends is that there's always enough to share. They have so little, and yet they love and cherish being able to share what little they have with us.

Your words continue to impact me, and I thank you for the enrichment they bring to my heart and mind.