Riches Aren't only Monetary

A few months ago, my "Aha" moment hit. I was sitting at adoration, reading a book about the Fatima story that I happened to grab off the bookshelf. In the first chapter, the author was describing how the residents of the small Portugese town, despite their poverty, would celebrate with gusto each new birth because they viewed children as such blessings from God. I started to ponder that for a moment, and realized how couter-cultural that really is in today's society.

Our society tends to equate success with aquiring tangible items--nicer cars, larger houses, bigger diamonds. But God blesses each of us in different ways-some do, indeed, have monetary riches. Others, though, are richly blessed in other ways: with great intelligence or drive, with great compassion for others. Some, like my husband and I, are rich with children--four priceless, irreplacable blessings. Diamonds are nice, but kids are better! Cars will rust, houses will deteriorate, but children's souls' will last forever.