The girls were reluctant to leave, (there is also a playground directly across the road from the house) and as we did a sort of sadness crept over me.
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We don’t have a cubbyhouse or sandpit. Our trampoline is old and coming apart. Our backyard is a fair size by city standards, but there is no room for a swing set or other play equipment.
Yep, I was feeling like we aren’t providing for our children well enough because of our financial situation.
And then today I received a letter in the mail that was such a timely reminder that I’m sure God is prodding me! One of my sisters – in – law is a religious sister and currently lives in Kolkata, India. She writes a letter a month and we get a copy. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind my sharing these brief extracts from her letter.
“One form of poverty that I can’t bear is to see women in raggy clothes that expose their bodies. Sickness, hunger, homelessness don’t strip them of their dignity anywhere as much as nakedness does, and when I see them that glimpse remains as a very painful picture in my memory”.
“… India which is a mix of great progress and primitive poverty. What is considered normal here is a shock to outsiders”.
So I gathered a couple of camping tarps, headed out to the garden and cleared a little patch beneath some branches and between the lavender and arum lilies. One of the tarps went on the ground, the other suspended by branches.
Added a couple of girly faux flowers, patchwork blanket and pretty yarn, and that’s it! They were so delighted and I was humbled.
I looked around the garden and gave thanks for the great things we do have, because there are so, so many.