Beautiful Christmas!

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart with be also." Matthew 6:19-21.

The past week has been... well, insane, to say the least. I was supposed to fly out of London last Sunday (19 December) but apparently if the city gets 3 inches of snow, the airport completely shuts down. Being from Minnesota, where it's a light winter if we get 3 FEET of snow, I was unimpressed. Naturally, I worried that I wouldn't make it home in time for Christmas, and was pretty frustrated at all the chaos.

We tried to make the most of our time there, which turned out to be fun actually. We jumped on beds; we ate out at nice restaurants, splurging occasionally on red wine to accompany our meal; and we got out into the city to see the musical Wicked, which was absolutely fantastic! So, I can't really complain about being stranded on an island for four days, but I was wishing the entire time to just be home with my beautiful sisters for Christmas day.

Well, miracle of miracles (and it truly is a miracle), I flew home on Thursday! From London to Germany to Chicago to Minneapolis I flew, ecstatic and joyful the entire time. And here I am, home with my mom and my sisters and our dog and cats. Home.

We discussed how, upon re-integrating into life at home in America, culture shock would be quite probable, coming from Africa for four months. I expected it and tried to prepare myself for it, which perhaps was slightly successful. But honestly, I'm coming back into America while the entire country is obsessed with a list of things they "want" or even "need," and it really has been culture shock.

Brothers and Sisters, who cares if your Christmas shopping isn't done. The water you use just to shower every day would give life to the 884 million people in the world who do not have access to sanitary water (1/8 of the world's population). For the 1.9 billion children living and growing up in the developing world (mainly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa), 1 in 3 of them are without adequate shelter.

But they still smile and laugh and play. They take wooden blocks and make them into cell phones. They find old car tires and wheel them around. They come across a broken down wheelbarrow, and now they have their very own vehicle. They draw in the dirt and play soccer with deflated soccer balls.

That's more than I can say I did when I was a kid. At age 6, I wanted to draw pictures with markers in EVERY color that Crayola offered. At age 9, I wanted that mini-car that actually drove around the cul-de-sac (my neighbor had one and I was jealous). At age 12, if my soccer ball lost a little air, it was time for a new one. At age 16, I wanted that phone that could take pictures and video and cost $100. And I still do it. I go to the mall, and I want a new dress (even though I have plenty of cute ones in my closet) or a new pair of shoes (even though I'm currently wearing shoes). And this is all after I've SEEN children with no clothes. Little girls with nothing to cover themselves. Little boys with bloody gashes on their feet because they have no shoes. This is all after I've seen babies on the verge of death because they don't get proper nutrition.

America. We have everything at our disposal, and oh, how good we are at disposing of things. We use what we want right when we want it, and we get rid of it when we're finished with it.

Take a step back this Christmas. Enjoy giving gifts, and be merry, but think for a moment about just how blessed we are. You can look out your window at the beautiful snow-covered trees, or you can look into your childrens' smiling eyes and healthy faces, and you can see the infinite beauty of God's majesty. You are breathing. Living. You are a gift. You are such a gift. As are those children and families living with nothing in the third world.

It's time we realize that WE are often the answer to our own prayers. We are change. We have the means to restore the lives of the broken; to feed the starving, to hug the orphan, to house the widow. It begins with eager hearts and educated minds. It begins with you and with me. It might sound crazy, but what if we started a revolution this Christmas season? What if we didn't give in to the materialism (including the after-Christmas sales) and we created a beautiful change for another person?

Merry Christmas, Readers. I hope it's a beautiful one for you. Love is still winning, and hope is still here, and change is not only coming... it's happening. Let's go.

(To read facts and stats I've used, click here http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats).