What is real poverty?

What is real poverty? It is always interesting to see that the answer to this age-old question is based upon the perspective of the individual. I was involved with handing out Christmas presents to over 1500 kids this last Saturday. It was an incredible day but what stood out was that most of these people got in line to wait for these gifts probably at 7am and didn’t mind the cold weather for Phoenix. We didn’t start the party until 11:30am. Yes, most waited over 4 hours in line for a few gifts and a bag of candy. What surprised me is that I brought a group of teens to help with handing out these gifts. Most of these teens would be viewed by many as being poor with either single parent families or dads who make what would be considered poverty wages by middle class Americans.

I had one of my teens that lives in a Habitat for Humanity Community, become real sad when we ran out of the nicer presents like scooters and bigger toys. She didn’t see herself as being poor like these kids, who really were just like her and she felt as if they were missing out not getting the better gifts. My wife commented on how she was in tears when we came to a point where the gifts were almost out and there were still a few hundred kids that hadn’t been blessed yet.

I know that poverty is more than just the absence of Christmas presents around a Tree. What is always amazing is that the families that waited literally hours for a gift or two for each of their kids were all dressed very nicely and everyone was quick to say thank you, gracious, Merry Christmas or Felix Navidad. I don’t see any poverty of thanksgiving as we handed out tickets for these families to enter the Christmas party. Too often I don’t see this same type of graciousness or thanks amongst those that have the means to get all of the latest and greatest toys, high tech gizmos or even a car.  So what really defines poverty?

I was fortunate to hand out Thanksgiving Baskets and Turkeys to some of our families we help. I know that it is difficult for most to think that there are families that go to bed at night in Phoenix without having a real meal, i.e. veggies, meat, potato/rice/beans and milk. Yet, I know that without the generosity of a few different churches some of my families would have little for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know that it isn’t easy to share or care enough to change my lifestyle to be quicker to help those in real need. Yet, I’m around many who are rethinking their choice of how to live and discover that they too could be poor because of not sharing and caring.

It is so easy to be caught up in the American Dream of getting a house, nice car and planning for retirement only to realize that there is more to life than meets the eye. What I’m learning is that too often that those who have the means could easily miss out on what is really important such as family, friends and the blessing of being part of God’s family.  I know that I’m selfish and too quick to first think about what I want then consider the real needs of those around me. My hope is that we can learn from each other about what it means to be thankful and more gracious to one another and discover the real meaning of it’s more blessed to give than to receive.