celebrate abundance

kristy and i were at pier 1 just a few days ago - we're still in the "putting the finishing touches on our new place" mode - because we wanted to buy a mirror or something for the large wall in our dining room. pier 1 really is a lovely place - though the random scents often throw my nose into a downward spiral - literally (at least the downward part). while browsing all of the knicks and knacks available for purchase, i noticed a sign that said "celebrate abundance" which i guess is part of their holiday sales campaign.

of course, it got me thinking.

firstly, i'm realizing more and more that kristy and i just tend to think differently from the masses - "we are all individuals" from life of brian - and i'm guessing that's a good thing. secondly, we live an abundant life - we're not swimming in wealth, but we're also not swimming in debt (providing that student loan debt is good debt!). we have more than enough. certainly, we have everything that we need.

how, then, should we best "celebrate abundance" while maintaining an awareness that this abundance isn't universal? having this "abundant life" is the exception rather than the rule when thinking globally - it's probably true even when thinking domestically.

one of the things that we really dig is world vision's catalog for giving "life-changing" gifts in honor of someone. for us, this started last year when we gave tilden and stephanie a "gift" by giving a goat to a family through world vision. this year, we noticed that there is an entire catalog of these gifts available - from the very inexpensive to the "well-beyond-our-reach" expensive. for example:

• tangible gifts like:
• educational support for one child ($32)
• malaria prevention for one family ($20)
• warm blanket ($30)
• safe water for a school ($50)
• or, more intangible stuff like:
• help prevent aids ($35)
• hope for sexually exploited girls ($35)
• share of art and music ($40)

it really is an incredible service. and i really don't need an ipod touch . . .

now, we're not giving up on christmas. we're just looking at abundance through a different lens. we've still got a tree (in fact, my wife tells me it's going up today) and we'll still decorate and eat food.

but this year, celebrating abundance (which, at first, really turned me off), will transform our lives.

abundant grace,

des