Abundant Life

I recently received an e-mail from my sister-in-law asking what I wanted from Christmas. Several years ago our family decided to exchange names as it was too difficult to buy gifts for everyone. This year my younger brother Bob got my name.

Each year it is also a struggle for us to decide what to get each other. Price isn’t a problem as we agreed to spend up to $75. The problem is that we both have everything we want. During the year if there is anything we need or want, we simply go buy it. As a result, the gifts we exchange are typically things we really don’t want or need. It’s pretty much wasted money. My younger brother has had my name for the last several years and now I own every Star Wars movie on DVD. My brother is a huge Star Wars fan and he just assumed that everyone should own this series.

So this year I decided to suggest that rather than buy gifts for each other, we research needs around the world and then give our gifts toward that need. Here’s the e-mail string and the discouraging response. I’m not sharing this to be mean-spirited as my brother doesn’t even know that my blog exists. I’m sharing this just to vent my frustration at Christmas, overindulgence, selfishness, and laziness. (more…)