Blessed

Kids these days are pretty blessed. We just celebrated my nephew's 5th birthday in an Italian restaurant. There were pasta, pizza, balloons, flourless chocolate cake (now, don't ask me how does one make cake without flour), presents and many more.

My nephew is an active guy; his parents gave up much to move over here for his future. He is a happy bloke, but I don't think he understands how much his parents sacrifice for him for the many many years to come.

And as parents, we complain. We complain that the kids these days have things too good. We complain that they take these good things, these sacrifices for granted. We complain that too much of a good thing make them go soft. We complain that they are complacent. We complain they don't understand, and they have not seen enough pain, suffering and hunger. We complain that they are spoilt.

But then again, are we any different. If God is our Parent, our Father, have we not spoilt by Him as well. Compare to my parents' generation, how much of pain, suffering, hunger that I have seen? How much of their sacrifices do I not take for granted? How tough am I compare to them? How much do I understand - or even spend time thinking - of what they have given me?

The difference is, of course, in spite of all the complaints I have of my kids, God has not complained about me.

Perhaps there's where we should start - ourselves.