Wanted: Used Tea Bags

I feel left out. I've heard this urban legend that missionaries get used tea bags in their care packages, along with truly "holey" hand-me-downs. I must be living in a different missionary age. At the risk of letting the cat out of the bag and shattering the "poor missionary" image, I have to admit that we've never been treated with such disrespect, nor have we heard of any colleagues so mistreated. Don't get me wrong: we don't expect generosity. God's called us to a life of sacrifice. We love, use, and pass on good hand-me-downs. We shop at Goodwill and the Albanian "aid piles." (And this isn't sacrifice, just stewardship!) You don't have to be a missionary to enjoy saving money, having a budget, and loving a bargain. But rarely are we given hand-me-downs. If some supporter decides to get us clothes, it usually comes with the tags and a gift receipt. We've been given many different teas through the years, but never Castoff Chamomile or Pre-Dampened Darjeeling. We've experienced more than we deserve from our friends and supporting churches. When I first went to Albania, I was gathering clothes for the orphans. One girl from my home church had received a new coat for Christmas and her parents suggested she donate her older one. She asked them, "Do you mind if I give the NEW one?" (Now there's a great set of parents!) That's been the spirit we have experienced over and over again. We've been showered with gifts at missions conferences, have received lovely care packages, and have been given substantial love offerings. No, we're not living high-on-the-hog. We're not home-owners. We often struggle to make ends meet, just like most Christian people. However--and maybe it's just because we have the best supporting churches and individuals in the world--it sure seems to us that God's people are the antithesis of the used tea bag-sending stereotypes; they really care about our needs and some of them actually go overboard trying to honor their missionaries. We don't deserve it. We don't expect it. But we are grateful! And at least once I'd like to receive a little box of used tea bags, just to see how it feels.