Giving

I've always been cheap.  And in the last few years have really been conscious of my spending.

Never so much as I have in the last 6 months, however.  And not because of the $26,000 (minimum) needed to bring our girls home, of which we had almost none. 

And not just because people have been so kind and generous to donate money toward the adoption and items for our upcoming Yard Sale with a Cause (although that has pretty much halted extracurricular spending because how can I accept such gifts and go about buying something not on our needs list.)

In the last 6 months I have just really come to the realization of how wasteful we (those of us in affluent countries) are.  Ask yourself:

Do I really need a new pair of shoes? Or another purse? 

Do I need another dress for church?

Couldn't I make it one more winter with the jeans I wore last year?

How many accessories do I really need?

Is it necessary to eat out every week?  or several times a week?

Is there a better use of my God's money?  It is He who gave it to us!  What are we doing with it to honor and glorify Him?  What are we using it for that has eternal purpose.

Are we giving till it hurts?

One night as we were reading and discussing Radical with the kids, one of them said, "I think we do a lot."

And he's probably right.  We do give to and sponsor those in need.  Probably more than people making twice what we do with half as many kids.  But my answer for all the children was,

"But we still aren't giving till it hurts."

Oh sure I gave up having my house cleaned from top to bottom every month so we could sponsor kids in Haiti.  Big deal! 

To obey is better than sacrifice! 

I Samuel 15:22

 I'm starting to think that's in the Bible because what we consider to be sacrifice really isn't.

One dinner out each month = a month's worth of meals, education and medical care for a child in a impoverished community.

One new shirt = hope for a child without Jesus.

A family vacation getaway = a year's worth of the above.

Or better yet, why not be hope for one orphan for a lifetime.  There are millions who need a home and family of their own!!! 

I loved Jessica's posts (a 5-part series) on their journey to adopt again (they just brought 2 girls home in January).  Something that gave me goosebumps was when she said:

"Yet I could not shake the feeling that someone was missing. Our empty chair at our table and empty seat in our car were a constant reminder to me that we had room for one more...

Our house is not huge, less than 1800 square feet...And some might question how we could possibly add another person to the mix...

But the more I got away from society's ideals, the more I realized we had everything that we needed and more..."

Think about it.  How much excess is in your home that you call necessary but really isn't? 

Could you lower your standard of living to make room for one more?  I used to think we couldn't lower ours any more but obviously I wasn't looking at our current "standard" properly.

I watched a documentary once and the subject of it, who grew up very poor, said his widowed mama always told him, "Son, never eat the last biscuit." 

He always wondered why she wouldn't let one of the 7 kids eat that biscuit.  One day, he heard a knock at the back door.  His mama opened it and handed out that last biscuit to a homeless man.  She told him, "There's always someone worse off than you."

Jesus says that one day when He sits on His glorious throne with all the nations at His feet, He will separate those who were true followers from those who only hoped or acted like His sheep.  He will say to the righteous,

Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.

To the rest, he will say,

Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

Matthew 25