* what i want for christmas *

in response to the musings of my previous post, and after some discussion with derek, we have decided that instead of exchanging gifts with our friends and family who could all basically afford to get whatever we wanted or needed ourselves, we would use our money to buy gifts for those who could NOT do that for themselves.

in the past couple of weeks, i've really struggled with the modern idea of christmas, aka. commercialism at it's best and the exchange of gifts, and the way we could be satisfied with buying each other brand new ipods that we could get ourselves if we really wanted to while giving used clothing to the poorest of the poor who could not afford their next meal.

the asylum seekers and refugees in our church deserve more than used goods. they are worth a new ipod just as much as any one of us. can you imagine not being able to provide for yourself or your family, because of circumstances that you could not control, and all you ever get are other people's used stuff? what would that do to your sense of worth, your self-identity, your dignity?

derek and i would like to do something about that. we love and cherish every one of our family and friends dearly, but ultimately we feel that we don't need to express this through an expensive gift. instead, with the money we would have spent on presents for them, we will buy presents for people who really need it.

if you would like to do the same but don't know where to start, this is a good place:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/content/unwrapped/mygift/index.aspx

this is my wish this christmas.