Being Grateful

I was reminded of this recently in a Year 10 Christian Studies class about what it means to be grateful and how to be generous with what we have been given. I gave students the opportunity to to discuss the following picture and to see how they relate to the cartoon. I was encouraged by the students' response and their heart for people less fortunate than themselves.

I know for me I really didn’t understand these key concepts until I went to Bangladesh with a friend who worked for World Vision when I was a few years out of high school. 

It was my first time in a less economically developed country, I was struck by the depth of poverty and challenges people faced just to survive. An image that is now etched in my mind is of a young boy scavenging over a rubbish dump looking for used plastic straws. I remember asking the field worker from World Vision what this boy was doing? He explained that he was collecting used straws to sell to local restaurants after he had cleaned and sorted them for only a few cents.

Facing this poverty for the first time it struck me that so many people in our world struggle to just have the basics for life. 

It got me thinking those with little… have little choice…

Those that have more… Have more choices…

The fact is that in Australia we have so many choices. I am reminded of how many choices I have and how fortunate I am to live where I do and for me to teach where I do (honestly I love what I do). 

So often when we look at these big issues we can become overwhelmed by the complex nature of the task at hand, we can often feel helpless. As James in the bible says;

 “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 

Can I encourage you to appreciate what you have and do your best for a better world. So that people with little can have more choices. 

As I was saying at the start, the Year 10’s are looking at ways they can help people who are less fortunate than them. Some ideas they have come up with that you might like to think about and do for yourself: 

• Sponsor a child through World Vision. 
• Buy a Useful gift through Tear Australia's Useful Gift catalogue and educate others about challenges others face in our world due to the country they were born into.