A Talk with a 12 Year Old Who Has a Cell Phone

Yesterday I sat and talked to a twelve year old.
She looks like America's version of "one of the least of these".

Mentor kid.
Inner city.
Broken home.
Forgotten kid.
At risk.
Low income

I checked my brand spanking new (1st ever smart) iphone 4 for the time.
She asked if it was an iphone 5.
I said, no.
She said how stupid her iphone 5 is and how she hates it.

I asked how long she had it.
Since her 12th birthday.

I asked why she needed a phone.
She said because her parents wanted her to be happy.
But she wasn't... it was stupid.
She said it cost $150 a month.

I wondered a great many things.

Then she asked when Addie (eight) would get a cell phone.
I snorted inside my head.
Maybe after she is driving or when she goes to college?
When she can personally afford to pay for it?

She was in wonder and amazement.
How could she "live with out it that long?" she asked seriously confused.

I said, "We can live with out a great many things... most people do."
I explained that I was 33 and just got my first iphone a few months ago... "See, I'm ok."
She was still awestruck.

I said, "Honestly, there are just too many more important things we need to give our money to... "
She asked, "Like what?"

People.
Hungry people.
Hurting people.
Sick people.
Alone people.

She was silent.

I wonder what she was thinking.
I wonder if she began to realize that her phone isn't what makes her "live".
That she feels hungry, hurting, sick and alone... despite her things.

We are unhappy with the best because it never fills us.
I am like a 12 year old with an iphone 5. Never filled but having it all.

Through Jesus I am like a 12 year old with nothing but the cloths on my back.
Filled though I have nothing of my own.

Um... Yes! 

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