The Right Stuff

This morning as we prepared for worship a child was starting to tear up as she explained her disappointment in receiving a used gift for Christmas. “I was  promised a new one and they gave it to my grandfather instead, and I got the used one” she lamented as she described the techno-gizmo. I told her she is bright enough to know what Christmas is really all about. I told her that we have to remember the real meaning of all this madness and that she was focused too much on “stuff.”

It occurred to me, as I tried to explain to her, that we are covered up with too much “stuff” and that the opportunity to move to Nicaragua meant a chance to get unburdened from all the “stuff.” I recognized that God had a reason to bless us with much of the “stuff” we have and that I think we have been pretty good stewards who honor Him and serve Him by using the “stuff” to glorify Him. My discussion with her led to  reminding her that the value of “stuff,”-- when given as a gift--should not be about the value of the item, but the love that is behind the gift. She admitted knowing that there was truth in what I was saying. She was even sharp enough to be a little embarrassed by her tears over “stuff.”

Oddly enough, during worship, the same nine-year old, who was now sitting next to me, watched as scenes of Christ on the cross scrolled by. There were pictures of the bloody wrists with the large spikes centered through them and the open slashes where the cat of nine tails cut the flesh of Christ prior to hauling the cross to Golgotha. Her comment? “He must have really loved us!” It was my turn to tear up as I thought about the gravity of this innocent, in-depth analysis.

As we prepare to make the big move-- the “stuff” that is most difficult to part with are the items that mean something because of the individual who gifted the “stuff.” Given in love, the “stuff” of some cumulative 83 years of collecting, plus the exponential of parents and grandparents who have passed on leaving us their “stuff,” seems like a steep mountain to overcome. I guess it is time to heed my own advice and focus on the love that lead to the gifting and not so much the dispersing of the “stuff.” God has given us the greatest gift of all, and now He is providing us with a new way to share the love. His “stuff” is better when shared. “Love is something when you give it away…” JLH