"Don't store up treasures for yourself on earth where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and theives do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." Matthew 6:19-21 NLT.

Now that Christmas is behind us, I hear lots of worries about paying the credit card debt that somehow spiraled out of control in December. It happens every year, even in a recession.

Although I didn't let the situation get away from me, I still wonder if my daughter could have been just as happy on Christmas morning if there had been two or three fewer presents under the tree. We spend so much time teaching "the true meaning of Christmas," but are we consistent with that teaching where there is so much emphasis on Santa and the pile of presents?

The unfortunate reality is that despite the recession, we still live in a culture of excess. We are oblivious of the influence it has on our values. I love the song by Casting Crowns about the American Dream. It's the story about a man who works too many long hours in order to give his family the finer things in life. He doesn't have time for them, but he keeps promising that things will get better. Of course, nothing changes and eventually his family is lost to him. "All they really wanted was you."

What would it look like if we made the choice that God and family were more important than achieving the "American Dream?" My favorite words from the song are these: "I'll take a shack on a rock over a castle in the sand." I call it the "Christian Dream."