The Simple Things

The way my family first heard of the YFEC or the boys home that we founded Give Soles to serve, was at Christmas time when I was in high school. My dad went out there with a group of men from our church to bring Christmas presents. Before they ate and opened gifts, one of the men asked this little boy called "Whitey" to say a prayer. Dad will admit he thought this little boy was about to really brag on the church group bringing them gifts or for what his gift might be that he was about to open when he began to pray. Instead Whitey prayed this prayer, "Lord thank you for the roof over my head, thank you for a bed to sleep in so I don't have to sleep on the ground and for food to eat so I don't have to go hungry anymore. Amen."

My Dad was stunned and moved by this prayer. He tells this story often. Whitey said this simple prayer of thanks while having no family to care for him and while living in a boys home. As my dad likes to say about him, "He was as thankful as a prince in a castle." And it still moves me when my dad tells me the story that a little boy in Whitey's unfortunate circumstance could be so thankful.

How many prayers do we say before we remember to thank God for all the simple things in our lives? A roof over our heads, water at the turn of a knob, a bed to sleep in, and our choice of may different foods to eat.

I like to remember and think about Whitey's prayer. It reminds me that I need to thank God for the same simple things in my life that I feel so fortunate for and sometimes take for granted.