Legacy

"Mommy, you add dis to my Chwistmas wist."

Take 2 steps.

"Mommy, you add dis to my Chwistmas wist."

Take maybe 4 more steps.

"Mommy, you add dis to my Chwistmas wist."

Our Target run was going to take a lot longer than I had anticipated at this rate.

My two year old was in no hurry, and completely enamored with all the toys that filled the aisles and spilled out onto the end caps as well.

Apparently I don't take her to the toy section at our local box store much, or it could be that we have one of the nations smallest box stores in our town. No worries though, we have the nation's largest working windmill, so it all balances out.

Our mission that night at Target was to find gifts to bless others with, but instead our kids were doing inventory of every aisle, leaving virtually no toys untouched. Keeping a mental list of all the things that they were sure they couldn't live without. And all the while my patience was wearing a bit thin. They all have lots of toys that go untouched for days, weeks, maybe even months on end, yet they are longing for more. For toys that are bigger and better and flashier and faster and have more bells and whistles than the ones they already have.

And it all becomes clear to me.

This is the legacy that I am leaving with my kids.  

Now, I understand that it would be hard to find a child in the world who when taken to the toy section of a store would walk away without wanting something. But for me, what I have taught my kids, perhaps even engrained into them is that you don't need to be satisfied with what you have.  

Feel free to long for more. You aren't happy with the selection of toys in the toy room? Then it is only right to get what you want. You don't like the shoes I bought for you for school that you have already worn and can't be returned? Well then let's go find some you do like. Oh, green isn't your favorite color anymore, now you like purple and you don't have any purple shirts? Well we should order some for you. There's a xBox game that everybody is playing and we don't have it? We need to get it. And on and on it goes.

What I have taught my kids is that happiness can always be bought for a certain price.

Matthew 5:5 says, "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."

When my kids grow up and look back on their childhood years, I want them to remember a few things about me...how I was content in every situation, that I loved them no matter what they said or did, and how pretty my hair was.  

Oh good grief, I'm just kidding about the last one. Sort of.


Please note that Target is awesome, and although I am going to do my best to avoid the mall this year when Christmas shopping, I will not try to avoid Target. I just can't handle a clothes fast and a Target fast at the same time.