Where Your Treasure Is

"Tell them to use their money to do good.  They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.  By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life. " 1 Timothy 6:18-19

Although they are not yet here, our Ethiopian children have been blessed by so many who have given generously and financially partnered with Chris and me in the quest of bringing them home.  Friends, family, neighbors, and strangers have bought over $400 worth of MS/Africa hand towels, donated money through our blog Paypal button, purchased cake pops (many many dozens and the orders keep coming in!), taken part in our coffee fundraiser and even sent those bags of coffee to family as gifts, signed up for sewing and cake pop classes, etc etc etc.  And again on this Christmas morning, we are blessed to receive yet another financial gift from a couple who made it in a very unique way.  They are storing up treasure for the future and bringing along their nieces and nephews as they do it!  In lieu of giving their nieces and nephews gifts this Christmas, they gave them an Adoption Flip Book with pictures and stories of our family.  They are donating the money that would have been spent on gifts directly into our adoption fund.  They told them that as they flip through the picture book, to pray for us and for our children who are thousands of miles away.

This couple is using their money to do good--they opened a future generation's heart to the plight of orphans.

This couple is rich in good works and is giving generously to those in need--those Ethiopian children need a momma and a daddy and a forever and ever home filled with security, love, and laughter.

This couple is ready to share with others what God has given them--God gave them a job and a paycheck to go along with it, and they are sharing the financial burden with us of the costly process of adoption.

This couple is not just storing up treasure under a Christmas tree, but they are also storing up treasure in Heaven and taking hold of real life--those Ethiopian children are real, and have names, and have faces, and have hearts that are hurting from whatever loss or tragedy that has made them become "adoptable".

Real life is messy and hard and it hurts and is often filled with suffering, but this life we live in America is a blessed one indeed!  We celebrate Jesus' birthday today as we bestow gifts on our loved ones and often times in scandalous excess, we celebrate today in homes that probably do not leak as the rain pours down and do not topple over as the winds rage outside, we celebrate today with tables filled with Christmas feasts of plenty and do not worry that we won't have enough food at that table to fill our children's tummies, and we celebrate with freedom today a King that was born to give us a way to become blameless and faultless in His Father's sight.

I pray that you find yourself this morning examining where you are storing up your treasure.  I am not praising this couple for their good deed, or exalting them above anyone else who has shared with us by means of money or prayers or time, nor am I trying to make anyone feel bad about giving gifts to their family.  But I am challenging you to be rich in good works and to give generously to those around you in need, and I am praising my God who is working in this couple's life through the power of His Word and who is working in the lives of those three little hearts that this couple touched with their unique gift. Their nieces and nephews will start at a young age praying for the needs of abandoned orphans, and who knows what eternal impact they will make as they get older having been given a good foundation for the future so they make take hold of real life!  I pray that you take hold of real life today because of the life of that sweet Baby born in Bethlehem!


photo credit: dolanh via photopin cc