Teens, TVs and Talents

I don't usually watch a lot of TV, but BigJoel just got home from a long trip. When he's here, the television pretty much stays on non-stop. Usually its either the Food Network or HGTV, but for some reason today, he landed on MTV. Then he fell asleep (Poor baby, it was a loooong tour.) So now I've spent the afternoon watching back-to-back episodes of Teen Cribs. I could have changed the channel, but that would mean I'd have to get up from my ComfyChair. I love my ComfyChair. (I don't get to sit in it, or even see it that often, because it is in the corner of my bedroom and is usually buried under pillows and clothes. But I cleaned my room today because Joel was coming home and I rediscovered the ComfyChair.)
But I digress...
Teen Cribs is a show where MTV travels around the country showing us the homes of spoiled little rich kids. These kids have more money in their piggy bank than we have in our bank account. I'm overwhelmed at the excess. One boy got a brand new BMW for his fifteenth birthday when he got his learner's permit. He also has a really nice truck. He's under 18 years old and his two cars cost more than my house. A twelve year old boy has three plasma screens in his room so he can play video games and watch TV at the same time. I feel guilty because we have five TVs and only four people in our family. There's just something not right about having more televisions than family members.
Now of course, we don't have that kind of money to spend, but I have to ask myself if we would live like that even if we could. These kids and their families may be very good, very generous, very well-grounded people, but I still can't imagine.
So if I had the money those people have, I hope I would be more responsible. I hope I would use it to fund micro-businesses in developing countries rather than to build a skate-park in my back yard. I'd like to think I'd sponsor 100+ Compassion kids rather than have a full-service nail salon in my basement. I pray that our walls would be covered in photographs of our family mission trips instead of autographed celebrity sports memorabilia.
I've always told God that I believe I could disprove that whole theory about it "being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven". Joel says if he won Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes, the first thing he'd do is quit his job. I tell him that's the wrong attitude to have, because God has called him to be a minister so he doesn't work for the money. Its about the ministry. Honestly though, if God would just see fit to bless us with ridiculous wealth, I think I could really do some good.
But then there's that parable of the servants left to care for the Masters' talents...and I wonder how I'm doing with that. Am I investing what I DO have wisely? or just burying what He's given me in my own desires while waiting for His return?
Hmmm, maybe that's why we haven't been blessed with ridiculous wealth...and all this time I was blaming Joel.