Spoiled Rotten

Currently, I'm reading the boys Little House on the Prairie. We've already read Little House in the Big Woods and, truth be told, I chose this particular book after finishing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the simple fact that I think Garrett will absolutely love Farmer Boy and I figured we should go in the order they were put in. I'm sure that, at some point, we'll get stuck in the middle of The Long Winter much like I did when I was in elementary school. But, for now, we're trucking wagonning through the second book in the series. Being that both boys are obsessed with the idea of the wild frontier, Indian jamborees and running through the prairie all day long, they're loving it.

Several nights ago we reached a portion of the book that I could still have paraphrased from when I first read it 23 years ago. Even way back then, in ancient times, I realized just how spoiled I was. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the chasm is even greater.

And in the very toe of each stocking was a shiny bright, new penny!

They had never even thought of such a thing as having a penny. Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.

There never had been such a Christmas.

Wow. We're ridiculous. This society. This day and age. We are a spoiled rotten people. I hope I can teach my children that life is about so much more than stuff.

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days...You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter." -James 5:1-3, 5