Things we want

So I started a new knitting class last night. It was really fun and I met some very interesting women and heard their interesting views on politics, who they think can win, etc. I'm starting a pattern for a scarf with a cable in it and was trying to decide on a yarn. There are just so many beautiful yarns available and the group was talking about how we just wanted to buy all of them!

It reminded me of several days ago when I was looking at Vera Bradley purses with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. My "need" for a Vera Bradley purse started before Christmas when a friend gave me a cute little VB change purse. I don't currently own a VB purse but I started thinking how lovely it would be to own one (never mind that I had one several years ago, never used it because it clashed with everything and promptly sold it at a consignment store!). So, here I am shopping for a VB purse with my mother-in-law egging me on (she was shopping for her own as well) and my sister-in-law laughing at me. Not really out loud but I know she was laughing :-) It amazed me how so quickly I can go from not really even thinking about wanting a specific item to wanting it so badly I feel like I "have to have it".

A good friend of mine typed an eloquent letter with her Christmas card this year. I liked it so much I wanted to copy it and send it along with my cards! I didn't but would still like to share the message she was trying to convey. I agree with it whole-heartedly - thanks Shannon! I know it's a Christmas message but it really does apply to our everyday desire to have more things.

"The holidays are here again. More plastic, more packaging, more stuff we don't need, more money spent trying to make my kids happy and excited on Christmas morning. The kids are busy circling toys in the ads and making long lists of things that make noise, break, and provide two seconds of entertainment before getting tossed aside. And I cirlce some toy ads of my own: a pair of sparkly earrings, an I-Pod, CD's, new clothes, and more books when I haven't even read the ones I own.

While the kids finish circling, I am on the educational toys website, trying to find something non-toxic and higher quality, that might at least stiumulate imagination or develop some thinking skills. This is my compromise; I know nobody would be happy with a children's book.

Like many parents, I wish that they'd say "Mom, don't worry about getting me more toys. I'll play with that game you got me last year or make something new out of the blocks. Let's save our present money or send it to the poor and call it a Christmas." This is how I want to raise them, but the outside world is too strong, and I can't seem to fight against it.

How much we adults are like children on Christmas. Except that Christmas is every morning, and God is an extra loving parent. Only the presents we are given are not usually the things we circled. We prefer the plastic toys, the short-term entertainment that provides "joy" for a few moment's time and envy from our friends. We rarely take notice and enjoy the gifts we already have - our children, our health, enough food, adequate clothing and shelter, more safety in our day-to-day lives than most of the world enjoys, another day to enjoy it all.

Or we don't notice or treasure the special gift-moments: the child who takes time to make a special present for someone he loves, the daddy who gets down on the floor and really plays with his children, the brother who hurts someone's feelings and then says he's sorry without being told to, the kiss and hug from the guy who's usually too cool for that kind of stuff.

I can't do much to fight the outside world, short of moving us to remote Alaska and cutting off all TV and internet access but there is something that we can all do to show our kids what's important: notice what matters with wondrous eyes, express real joy, model a spirit of thankfulness, and love each other on Christmas and every day."