A boy and a Rolex watch

We have lived in Las Vegas twice.  The first time we lived in an area that was quite wealthy and it was just before the economic collapse of 2008.  We left about the height of the economic boom in 2004.  The people we met during that time were cocky.  We knew a family that had young son.  They owned a paving company in Las Vegas and were very wealthy people.  This young boy had a Rolex watch.  They boy couldn’t have been more than 13 years old.  The watch on his arm was worth enough to support a family of 4 for a year in a previous place we lived in Georgia.  It made me sick to see such excess.  What was the point?  I didn’t know then.  I still don’t know.  We would go to meetings that talked about serving others and giving of yourself, but all I could see, not just in this specific situation, but in many in that area at that time, was excess.  People wanted more.  Always more.  Enough was never enough.  We lived in the biggest and nicest house we had ever owned.  We loved it!  But from these people we were told that we were “tract home trash.”  I sold that home for over half a million dollars, but it wasn’t good enough for these people.  We were looked down upon.  Since then, the economy crashed and these people fell far and hard.  I wasn’t here to watch it, but I felt bad for them in a way.  The higher you are, the harder you fall.  What I learned from this experience is that what the Lord gives, he can also take away.  The materialism that I witnessed changed me forever.  I vowed to not make things more important than people in my life.  I vowed to never make people feel that they weren’t good enough because they didn’t have what I had.  I don’t know what happened to this young man, but I have seen other young men and women who feel entitled to things they did not earn. I have seen other families that lost their business, their home, even their freedom and self respect when they lost a little equity in their home. I have wondered if this watch was paid for by cash or credit.  What happened to it when the market crashed? Did they sell it to pay off a mortgage that they couldn’t afford or to buy food or clothing for their family?  I have heard a million times in my life “You deserve it.”  Really?  If I deserve something, doesn’t every body deserve the same?  I learned that the value in people is not in the size of their bank account or what kind of watch they wore but in the size of their heart.  The humble people I knew in Vidalia, GA and where I grew up in Lakeland, FL were just as good of people, no, they were better, than those that had so much.  If you have all you need, find a way to give to those that may not have what they need. Do it, don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk.  Be satisfied with what you have, and be grateful for it. That is what I learned from a young kid with a Rolex watch.