Abundance

A church up the road is collecting donations for Haitian relief this week, mainly shoes and clothing, so I asked my daughter to look in her closet for shoes she's grown out of. She was able to come up with SIX pairs that are still in good shape but don't fit anymore. She also stacked up seven pairs of jeans that look brand new! My son has two pairs of unworn high tops...by the time he got around to wearing them, they were too small. It hit me that I am really, truly blessed to be able to afford more than one pair of shoes for my children, and enough clothes for them to grow out of before they're worn out. How many mothers across the world and even in this country (and perhaps this city) cannot provide even the basics?
I dread going grocery shopping. I drive half an hour to the nearest military commissary because I can't deal with the local supermarkets' prices, so when I go monthly, I stock up! I have a big, heaping cart of groceries that costs me a bunch of money and takes awhile to fill up, empty, and unpack once I get home. My family gets frustrated because we really don't have the storage space for everything I buy, so for a week or so, food falls out of the cupboard or freezer when they're opened. How many can only dream of having too much food????? I heard that in Haiti they are so severely hurt by the recent hurricanes, they are eating dirt mixed with sugar to ward off hunger, and I have to try to figure out where to squeeze my extra supplies?!?
I am embarrassed by how much my kids have. By average American standards, we are not a wealthy family, by any means. Yet my son has a PS2, an X-Box, an X-Box 360and a PSP. I'm ashamed to say that...but I bet that's exactly what his classmates have, only they probably have Wii's, too, something he covets. Both of my kids have cell phones (though they'd like fancier ones), and my daughter has a laptop (a gift from her uncle, who had a couple of extras in his closet--no lie!), a Gameboy and a PSP, and she really feels sorry for herself for not having an iPod. Sheesh!
I am not even going to go into the possessions my husband and I have. I do not consider us to be extravagant shoppers, but I also cannot think of one modern convenience we lack. We have two computers, two decent vehicles, and I get annoyed that our tiny closets barely hold all of our clothes. While we do not have the latest-and-greatest of much (okay, except cell phones--he works at Alltel, after all), we definitely own above and beyond what we need...to the point that I sometimes feel burdened by all of this stuff that I don't have a big enough house for.
I have always said that I would give up everything I have and live in a cardboard box if it meant having a happy, healthy, loving family, and I honestly do believe I mean that (though of course I hope it never comes to that!) I think whoever thought up the Mastercard commercials that label certain things as "priceless" is absolutely right. I cannot buy my kids' love and respect, nor can I put a price on their intelligence and good health. Shiny stuff cannot take the place of their love or my husband's commitment to me, and mine to him.
While I am blessed with an abundance of possessions, I know that when I die, I am not taking any of this with me. The Bible says to store up your treasures in Heaven, where moths or rust cannot destroy them and where thieves can't steal them. My relationship with Jesus (which doesn't cost me a dime, by the way) is far more precious than anything I can ever buy in a store. I thank God for providing for my family and me above and beyond what we deserve, and most of all, I thank Him for teaching me what true treasure really is and giving me the chance to possess it.