Last night I learned a valuable lesson from my oldest daughter. She is fourteen years old, and I have to say she is a wonderful child. She has the typical teen issues, but over all she is a wonderful girl. We went to the store to pick up some things from the grocery store. I always get a bit sad at the store. I see things we would like, or that we haven't had in forever, but we just cannot afford them. I keep my chin up for the little ones, but it is disheartening to not even be able to afford cookies for them when they deserve the treat.
We were driving home, and she saw a man with a will work for food sign. I had had a buy one get one free lid for soda, so I bought us both a soda. She had not yet opened hers, and she gave it to this man. When I asked her why she did it, she told me this:
"I know we are having things a bit hard, Mommy, but at least we have a warm place to sleep. He doesn't even have that. You taught me to care about others."
That snapped it all into perspective. There's always someone worse off, and we cannot afford to loose our compassion for others despite what ever it is we are facing. My fourteen year old reminded me of that. I guess I am raising her right.
