How my heart was broken today

Did you read my link to another person's blog post last night? Scroll down and read it if you haven't. Well, it really touched me. I was thinking about it this morning. Then, something very like the story happened to us today. We had a waterpark day planned all week long with dinner tonight at a restaurant with a long time friend we havent seen in a while. We packed a cooler with picnic foods, drinks, and snacks. We set out, the whole fam in the minivan. We got to the city(we live in the suburb) and needed gas. There was really nowhere to stop except right off the freeway. As we pulled up to the gas pump, we noticed a young boy, looked about age 10 digging through the trash can. He was pulling aluminum cans out and placing them in a sack. We watched as he walked from trash can to trash can and began digging. He wasn't dressed nicely. He was wearing an old tshirt, pants that were at least 6inches too short, and very worn out, no-brand shoes, the kind my 13yr old would die before wearing. I couldn't just sit there! I got out while Mike pumped the gas and pretended to care about washing the windows. I watched and finally said "You sure are working hard out here." The boy was shy and looked uncomfortable. Mike asked if he was saving for something. Then he spoke. He had an obvious speech disorder. He stated he was "probably saving for something." We talked a few minutes and found out he was about to be 13 and starting 8th grade. My oldest son is starting 8th grade. There was a huge difference between these 2 boys. The little boy had such a speech disorder that it was hard to understand what he was telling us. Amazingly enough, our 6 yr old son has a severe speech disorder and we are used to decoding! We ended up giving him a gatorade(he refused a sandwich) and a few encouraging words and drove off as he walked to the next trash can. I got in the car and they fell--the tears! I sobbed! It was too much. I had read the link below and then a similar senario slapped me in the face. Here was my family: well fed, going to the waterpark, gonna easily blow 75 to 100 bucks in a day of entertainment and food. This sweet kid was digging in the trash to make a few cents, alone in the city along the freeway. He was "that" type of kid. You know the kind, the one who is invisible at school. The kid nobody talks to, the kid with the old hand-me down clothes with the speech disorder who gets made fun of or called "retarded".
Yep, my heart was and is broken. My little boy has special needs and a speech disorder. What if he was the one digging in the trash? OUCH!! What a reminder for me and my family to be grateful and satisfied with what we have AND to share our blessings!!!

The world is not impressed when Christians get rich and say thanks to God. They are impressed when God is so satisfying that we give our riches away for Christ's sake and count it gain.
"Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper