STUFF: Do we really need more?

The last 3 months have been a bit crazy!  We have been adjusting to being a one income family, and I started homeschooling Abby.  We are about half way through our home study and we have decided to accept a sibling group rather than just one child.  And my baby girl, Ashton, recently celebrated her 2nd birthday!  Let me tell ya, it's a crazy life!

Meanwhile, we have been taking some amazing classes at church to help us figure out what else we are being called to do.  (And to fuel all of the craziness inside my head.)  We read Orphan Justice, by Johnny Carr and we are currently reading When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert.  I don't know where God is leading us next but I know I have not been living the way I want to live.  We have been blessed with an abundance of STUFF.  Yep, STUFF.  If you look around, you probably have more than enough STUFF too.  It just doesn't seem fair that we have all of this STUFF while others don't have clean water to drink.

It's a difficult cycle to break.  Where do you draw the line?  How much STUFF do we need?  How much STUFF is too much?  How much STUFF will we buy for Christmas?  How much STUFF do my kids need?  How much STUFF do I really need?  How much STUFF am I wasting money on?  How much am I teaching my children to love STUFF?

Today I unloaded a car full of STUFF.  Donated our STUFF to bless others at Shoes for Orphan Souls, The New Life Center, and Goodwill.  And as I look around my house, you can not even tell that anything is missing.  We still have too much STUFF.

This brings me to Christmas....yes, I said Christmas...

Most of my Christmas shopping is already done.  We bought a few toys and games for the girls (yep, more STUFF) and I'm hoping to make several homemade Christmas gifts this year.  Hopefully I'll be able to make a few things for the girls that they will cherish and that won't just become more STUFF. 

To the left are some stats from last year's Christmas.  The average American family spent $749.51 on Christmas.  In Ethiopia the average annual income is about $100.  Yep, $100 a year and we spend 7 X's that amount on Christmas alone. 

This year I don't want any material gifts.  Instead of the new iPhone whatever, I want clean water around the globe.  I want shoes on the feet of all the children, clothes on their backs, and full tummies.  I want families to be restored, rather than ripped apart by poverty.  I want Christ's name to be praised from the highest mountain tops to the lowest valleys!

I just can't handle anymore STUFF!