Spoiled, but is it okay?

Our children (ours & yours) are getting spoiled badly this Christmas. Because their plight was so bad and their lives so terrible prior to this year, the Lord has put them on the hearts of many who are responding with gifts of love...not to mention many toys. Many of you have sacrificed so they may have, this year, what they never had before...and tomorrow will be a glorious day for them. However, they are not likely to see such a mountain of gifts ever again in their lives. Every year will be light years better than they ever had prior to gaining freedom from Father Vincente, but none of them will ever match this first outpouring.

So, my question is: "Is spoiling a child always a bad thing?" Typically I would answer, "Yes, absolutely." You just create monsters who always want, who are never satisfied, who don't understand what it means to appreciate things! And, this first year we can see some of those things happening...there are times when a lack of appreciation rears its' head, there are times when they just want the next toy; but we believe that in this first year it is important to spoil them. We believe it is vital that they know without any question that they are loved by Christian brothers and sisters around the world. We believe it's important for them to know that they will never again be left alone, that they will always have a family...and that family is not just Bob & Joyce, that family is the body of Christ!

So, I believe that this year it is okay to spoil, to love, to give. I believe this year our Lord wants to plant seeds of security deep within them so that they never again worry or wonder what will happen next. So, we together, will spoil, we will love, and we will sow; and then next year (Jan. 1) we will break out the rules, the regulations, the "do's & don't's" again...but for now, let's spoil them!