"Mommy, are we poor?"

We packed our belongings neatly into boxes. We disassembled beds, sold large pieces of furniture in order to fit more boxes into our storage shed, and eventually ended with an empty house. The children played happily with their cousins, several miles from the upheaval their house was in. I was glad for them; my brain was starting to feel fried from all the decisions staring at us from out the boxes and I wasn't the one trying to play toys in that mess.

But blessing though the babysitting option was, the children needed to be able to say goodbye to the the only home they have ever known. I took them back to the house (we were sleeping at my sister's) and the three of us walked through empty rooms one last time. "Let's tell this room goodbye," I said. The children laughed and waved to each room as they chorused, "Goodbye, bedroom. . .goodbye kitchen!"

When the tour was finished, the Littlest One looked around and said, "But where are our beds? And we have no chairs!" Insecurity was written all over her face as she got her fleecy blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders though the day was warm. I held her close and explained the moving process once again. "We have a new house waiting for us in Ghana. We'll have chairs and beds in that new house. . ." Then we left and she played happily with her cousins for the rest of the day.

That evening when I crashed in exhaustion into the rocker, she came over to me with her blanket for some snuggle time. She looked beautiful to me, sweet girl, but then her face took on an empty look, the same expression I had seen in our bare living room earlier in the day.

"Mommy," her voice was so sweet and little. "Mommy, are we poor?"

She knows about poor children. She has seen pictures of them wandering about in a rain forest, crying, with no home to return to.

Poor children have no home; suddenly she was feeling like she qualified.

She doesn't understand that though we might not be rich in this world we are anything but poor. She doesn't know how blessed I feel. I have two of the world's dearest children and one amazing husband. I have peace in my heart and hope for the future. My children have cousins and grandparents who love God. We have each other (one of the few things that doesn't change by moving overseas) and an eternity together with God to look forward to.

No, dear child. We aren't poor at all. We are one of the richest families I know. The 8 x 12 shed that houses basically everything we own in this world is almost worth laughing over when you compare it with the eternal treasures that make our life worthwhile.

Proverbs 10:22a says, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich," and we, my child, are rich.