Anyway, I jokingly tell Seth that he should think my materialistic tendencies as a good thing because materialistic people are very easy to shop for… he never has to be one of those stumped husbands wondering what in the world to get his wife for Christmas or her birthday. I like everything!!! Basically, if it’s pink, pretty, has a butterfly on it, is supposed to organize my house or life better, if it guarantees to make my skin smoother and my pores tighter, if it smells wonderful, if it’s made out of chocolate, if it will prevent chocolate from making me fat, if it will add volume and luster to my hair, if it’s clinically proven to make my children geniuses by the time they turn 5, if it’s state of the art, or if it matches something I already have, I want it!!
I feel like I was just confessing to a priest my sin of coveting.
Lately I’ve been spending more time than usual shopping in stores or online or with catalogs as I scour the earth for the best deals on Christmas gifts, and gifts for a few family members with birthdays right around this time. Who has the nerve to have a birthday near Christmas?!!! My husband and my mother, that’s who! With this extra browsing time, I have developed a bad case of the “I wants”. I know that NONE of you have ever wanted to buy something that wasn’t an absolute necessities (which- please define for me… it’s a slippery slope!) or something that you could not afford or something frivolous. But I do… =(
I’ve been feeling convicted about my lack of contentment… I know God has been so good to me, and I have all that I need and more!! But that doesn’t automatically turn the “I wants” off. It should… my gratefulness SHOULD replace my feelings of dissatisfaction. All I can say is that I’m working on it.
Can I share with you something that does in a BIG way, put it all in perspective for me? Our church helps support the ministry of David and Debbie Bolos in Arequipa Peru. Along with a productive church, the Bolos’ also began New Hope Children’s Home. The stories of these precious little kids in this poverty stricken area are absolutely heart breaking. The tales we hear in newsletters or when the Bolos family visited our church send tears down my cheeks. Starvation, parental neglect, abuse, abandonment… children taking care of their younger siblings because mom’s new boyfriend didn’t want them, children living on the streets, children selling themselves as slaves for survival, parents selling children as slaves for alcohol, mothers hitting children as a last ditch effort to stop their crying out for food which she has none to give. And there are so many of them. In this month’s letter, Brother Bolos described his heartache as they had to turn away about 50 children for lack of room for them. They are simply maxed out. He also introduced their latest project and asked for our help. They intend to begin serving hot meals at least once a day and allow all street children to come and at least receive a good meal for that day. There is so much more that they need and that the Bolos want to do, but at the very least they can feel full in their tummies, feel loved by someone, and hear about the Jesus who died for them. Our church is collectively putting together a “Thanksgiving Offering” to help them with this endeavor. If there is a ministry on earth, aside from my own church, that I want to give to, this is it.
My life is blessed abundantly. I have a warm home, a loving husband, and two healthy daughters sleeping in their comfortable beds right now. We have food every day. We never have to wonder if we’ll eat today. I’ve never had to deny my children food when they were hungry because I simply didn’t have any to give them. I have a Bible all to myself. We don’t have to rip chapters out and pass them along with other believers as we might have to in a communist country. I have never been sold to stranger. I have never rummaged through dumpsters or stolen for survival. I have a washing machine and dryer that work wonderfully. Not one time in my life have a washed my clothes on a washboard in a creek. I don’t even have to use a laundry mat. I could go on and on, of-course. Abundance. That is a great word to describe my life.
“And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” I Tim. 1:14
3 comments:
Very true. And a bit convicting, too. How dare we want more?
You can take us off the prayer list (until next time ;) I think we are all well again except for a couple of leftover runny noses (which could be weeks yet, right?) Thank you for your prayers!
So true. Thank you for the reminder!
Your posting described me to a T! God has been speaking to me about this and I am working on it too! The Bolos ministry and the children there in Peru definitely hit me in a big way.
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