Blessed Beyond Measure

Whenever I know that we are about to accumulate more STUFF, I start to get a little panicky. I HATE clutter. I am a minimalist. Stuff stresses me, and it makes me grumpy. So I want to purge. Today was one of those days.....

All that aside....

I am trying so hard to ingrain (engrain?) into my little boys' hearts just how very blessed we are. We need NOTHING! We have "exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond ALL that we could ever ask for or imagine."

And there are many - OH so many - little boys and girls who have nothing.

Both of my boys are tender-hearts. They both feel things really deeply. They initiate conversations like this of their own accord a lot. So, today, I thought we'd all do something about it. Smallscale, for sure. But, something nonetheless.

We systematically went through their bedroom - toy by toy, and we assessed whether we should keep it, chuck it, or give it away. I have two little extremes when it comes to doing something like this. One of my boys is a wee bit of a hoarder, and the other wants to give away the gifts we just gave him a few days ago. Hey - he doesn't even want to keep his bed! So, we're working on balance, here.....


Two bags of trash and one box of pretty nice toys later, we have a much more organized and tidy room. And today, we're taking everything over to the transfer station, we're going to line everything up on the table, and we're going to hope and pray that some needy little family comes in and finds a few perfect, FREE little Christmas gifts for their little ones.


Truthfully, I wish there were three or four boxes of toys to take to the transfer station. Honestly, I was hoping for a little more willingness to part with some of their treasures. But, I AM proud of them.


Filling one box of toys when there is still a bedroom FULL of treasures is a small gesture, I know. But small gestures add up to big ones.
And, if I can just keep this constantly in the forefront of their little hearts and minds, if they can begin to learn to give things away - and even buy things with their own money for others - of their own accord, they will grow to be more selfless and loving. They will see with the eyes of their Savior. They will feel with tender hearts that break easily for the suffering of others. They will learn that it REALLY IS more blessed to give than to receive. And they will hold their things loosely realizing that all that they have is only a gift on loan.