We are not the Blankers

We can all look around and see someone whose life looks a lot like ours but just a bit better.

For my family growing up, that family was the Blankers.

Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc

The Blankers were a lot like us.  They had about the same number of kids and fairly close in age to us.  Our parents worked together as missionaries in a foreign country so we spent a lot of time together as families.

But somehow life for the Blankers always seemed just a bit better.

The Blankers kids got bigger allowances.

The Blankers lived in a bigger house.

The Blankers ate dessert more often.

The Blankers had later bedtimes.

The Blankers didn't buy the kind of cheap peanut butter that you nearly broke your arm trying to stir the oil off the top of the jar back into the peanut butter so you could spread it without tearing your bread.

The Blankers didn't have to make their lunches with homemade bread (I know. Trust me. This seemed like a real hardship at the time).

The Blankers didn't have to wear matching outfits for their missionary photos.

Naturally we kids complained about the unfairness of all this. Often. Not that it did any good.  Mom's answer was always the same.

"We are not the Blankers"

I have no idea where the Blankers are today or how they turned out.  But new Blankers pop up in life all the time.  In the age of social media it is even easier to find people whose life looks a lot like ours but better.

But the truth is we only see the outside of other families.  We see what they choose to show us.

So Mom was right.  We are not the Blankers.  We are ourselves.  And that is okay.  It is better than okay.  It is good.