Do You Really Need That New Outfit?

Or car? Purse? Computer? Shoes? Cruise? _____? You fill in the blank with that thing that you "need" right now. And yes, I'm just as guilty as the next person about wanting more stuff. Or better stuff. Sometimes I think I "need" to go buy more clothes for my kids (they have to be well-dressed for school, you know!) I think I "need" new furniture for my living room (my current furniture is 10 years old and needs to be updated, after all!) I think I "need" to repaint my bathroom because, well, let's just face it - I'm sick of the stripes that I painted in there a few years ago and want to change the color. Even though it looks just fine the way it is. And Chris could use a new car. Oh, the one he drives to work runs great, but it really isn't much to look at. How many times have I made a quick trip to the grocery store because even though our cupboards were full of food, there wasn't anything "good" to eat? How many times have I left food on my plate or thrown away leftovers because I didn't want them? I "needed" to prepare new food for the next meal. I could make excuses all day and try to justify why I "need" so many new things, but how much do I take for granted? How many people are there who have no clothing at all?  Who have no living room, let alone living room furniture? Who only dream of indoor plumbing? Who have never even owned a car, or a bicycle for that matter? Who have no food at all, or have to dig through trash to find some? I'm not saying that we should feel guilty because of all the nice things we have. God has richly blessed us, that's for sure, and we need to truly be thankful for those blessings. Everything that we call "ours", though, isn't really "ours" at all. It's all God's. So how would He want us to use it? We need to be content with what we have, and to remember those who are less fortunate. Help them out when we get a chance. Serve others. And maybe even forgo that new "something" and instead donate the money that we would have spent to someone else who needs the basic necessities of life.

I have recently learned about Korah, a village in the dump on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis is the city we will be traveling to in order to bring our child(ren) home. The videos below detail what life is like here; it is very humbling and heartbreaking to see how these people live and to realize again just how much we  take for granted. Please take a moment to watch these videos, and then sit back and reflect on what you have seen.