Molassas

No, this is not a post about one of my boys dripping in sticky molasses...I pray fervently that doesn't happen.  :)
This is about sticky molasses though - making a mess in my cupboard.
I was packing things into my cupboards a few days ago after picking up the groceries.  I tried to move the molasses and it wouldn't budge.  It was stuck in it's own drippings.  Whoops.
I love the stuff.  When I was pregnant with my last baby, I think I had bread with  butter and the sugary goodness every night before I went to bed - along with cheese and pickles.
Anyway, back to filling my cupboards...I was complaining to myself about needing to clean these cupboards and find a better storage solution for said "lassy" when I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my full, albeit sticky, cupboards.  I thought of moms in other countries, even our own country, who may be looking at almost bare cupboards.
Nothing to make for dinner.
Nothing to feed her children.

Forgive us Lord for forgetting.

We've been meaning to sponsor another child for months now.
We decided when we had our first baby that we would sponsor a little one from another country for every baby we have.  We have been delighted to have Rutendo, a little girl from Zimbabwe and Wexlex, a little guy from Guatemala be a part of our lives.  
Our youngest son is 8 months old now and we haven't gotten around yet to sponsoring another.
 Life happens.

I fold and fold and fold our boys clothes and I forget that there's a little boy somewhere with no clothes to fold.

I put cups of milk and plates of bread and bowls of fruit on our table and forget that there's a mother with nothing to put in bowls for her babies.

I fill up my boys water-guns with clean cold water a zillion times a day and forget that there are some boys who have only muddy, bacteria-infested water to drink.

Forgive me Lord for forgetting.

1 Timothy 6: 17-19 says,
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."


I wouldn't call myself rich, maybe you wouldn't call yourself rich either. 
However, the food in my cupboards,
clothes in my laundry basket,
car in my garage,
toys on my living room floor,
glowing lamp in the corner and
clean water coming out of my faucet -
most definitely makes me rich to the young gaunt mom in the mud hut
               or the teenager trying to wash car windows in the city
or the feeble elderly gentleman in a house with no heat
               or the little baby lying on a cold floor in the orphanage
or a neighbor who's having a hard time making ends meet...

Help us not to forget Lord
            and help us to take action.

Thank you Molasses for reminding me to do good, be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share and to take hold of the life that is truly life.