You can listen to this as it was aired on My Bridge Radio:
I have found that it is easy to look at other people’s lives and imagine they have it better than I do. I see this tendency starts pretty young. Just the other day my six year-old Josh came to me while I was cooking and said, “I wish I could do whatever I want to do. Like you do.” I said, “You think what I want to be doing is spending this hour making a dinner that you guys are just going to complain about?” Josh answered, “Yes. You like that. I want to play with friends.” I told him, “I have friends, too. I’d like to go play with them.” Josh said, “You could do that.” But I explained, “Who would make your dinner?” Josh looked at me with confusion and said, “I can’t do that. I’m too small.” Then after a long pause he said, “Oooooooooh.” I think he’s finally starting to understand that even though it seems like I can just do whatever I want, adulthood is a big responsibility and my life may not be as easy as he thinks.
I have my own tendencies to look at the lives of people around me and imagine that they have it so easy. Maybe they have more money than we do or a nicer house or more well-behaved kids. I assume that means they don’t need my input or help. Or I might even assume that they judge me for my struggles. But God has called us to live in community with one another. When I look beneath the surface and get to know those around me, I often find that our problems are the same. My gifts are needed and I benefit from the strengths of my friends. It’s easy to think our lives would be easier if we had the circumstances of others, but just as Josh is finding out there are struggles in each stage of life.