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Last year, as the holidays approached, I read an article detailing a "disease" running wild in America. It's called affluenza, a term a sociologist coined to describe our country's insatiable appetite for material consumption. While affluenza's prevalent year round, the "gimme bug" is epidemic as Christmas approaches.
As extravagant Christmas trees emerged in store windows and holiday music cackled from loudspeakers, the threat of affluenza weighed on my mind. Surely my children—one-year-old Elizabeth and three-year-old Lukas— weren't victims of this disease. "Besides," I said in an effort to ease my mind, "they never seem to have as many toys as the kids next door." The thought brought momentary comfort, but as I looked more closely at my family, I couldn't ignore a nagging feeling I was wrong.
In the corner of my son's room stood an overstuffed toy box. Downstairs in the playroom, many of last year's hottest Christmas gifts gathered dust. Baby toys and rattles discarded by my daughter now were claimed by our new puppy. Horrified, I realized our one-salary, struggling-to-stick-to-our-frugal-budget, average family had fallen prey to the nation's epidemic.
As the weeks passed, my mind became a film reel of memories. An embarrassing image of my children on a previous Christmas day shuffled to the forefront. We'd just finished the gift exchange at Grandma's. The children were buried beneath brightly colored wrapping paper and shiny metallic bows. Surrounded by towers of flashy new toys, my then two-year-old son had dared to ask, "Is that all?" Oh, yes, affluenza had struck before!
Next emerged a picture of my husband standing amidst drifts of snow with an assortment of boxes at his feet. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he attempted to stuff our children's loot into our car. I was crammed between two crabby children in the backseat of our weighted-down car while oversized gifts claimed my rightful spot next to the driver.
Something had to be done! A verse from a recent Bible study ran through my mind, "I came that [you] may have life, and have [it] abundantly" (John 10:10, NAS). Was my family missing out on abundant life because our "stuff" got in the way?
With new resolve, I approached my husband. After some discussion, we decided to sort through our things and find items to donate, then enlist the children's help in choosing some of their belongings to share. While we realized Elizabeth, our one-year-old, was too young to understand our mission, we were certain that three-year-old Lukas would benefit from our project.
Invigorated, I discovered a local shelter was getting ready to hold its annual "Christmas Store." Every December, the mission sets up a makeshift store. Shortly before Christmas, people who otherwise couldn't afford to give their loved ones gifts are invited to shop for very low-priced, used, but in good condition, presents the community has donated. The store preserves people's dignity, but better yet, it allows the customers to experience the joy of giving rather than simply being the recipients of handouts. I immediately was sold.
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