Around and Around We Go, When We Stop, No One Knows...

One of the greatest stories in the bible to me, was the story of the man who asked Jesus what he must do to be saved. Jesus replied to him saying sell everything you own, and follow me. The man instead, went away in sorrow. He could not bear to part with any of his possessions.

This world today is no different than that man. We take pride in our possessions. We love them, and when we lose them, we mourn them as if they were a part of us. It's very hard for me to explain this, but I have felt some sort of conviction lately of the fact that I have so much and yet can still feel at times that I need more.  But things, are just that. THINGS... They don't have the power to make you happy. They can't solve your problems.

Our society today has become obsessed with possessions. Our country is one giant group of HOARDERS! It just trickles down the line from goverment, to corporations, to consumers, and it just goes on and on and on. Where it stops nobody knows. The want for all of the things that we think we need is why our country is in such great debt.

This thought hit me today as I attempted to clean my three year old's bedroom. Finally, I decided to give up and start tossing the old to make room for the new. In seeing this, my son Caleb began to yell, "MOMMY, DON'T THROW MY STUFF AWAY!!! I NEED IT!"
(Most of the stuff I was tossing, were things that he hadn't played with since he was a little baby, or even at all. ) And I thought to myselft, "What am I teaching my son?"

I own:

• 2 different sets of cookwear
• 2 different sets of plates
• countless silverwear and utensils
• right now my drier contains not 1, but 3 bottles of laundry soap. (2 of which are completely empty)
• I have hundreds of pens and pencils and paper. (and I'm not exagerating. this is an obsession I inherited from my grandmother. My mother says that my obsession eclipses hers though)
• Our children have more toys than half of scott county. 
• I have boxes and boxes of odds and ends that I can't part with simply because it was given to me by someone who loved me or whom I have loved.
• I have clothes ranging from size 12-my current size because someday I WILL get back into that nice pair of jeans...

I could go on and on and on, but you get the point.

Somehow, we manage to become attached to the things we have so much so, that they tend overwhelm us. Maybe it's because there is a memory attached to them, or maybe it's the enjoyment we get from owning them. In any case, it's ashame that our things sometimes mean more to us than the things that are truly important. The ones in our lives who should be celebrated, loved, and missed when they leave us.

It is my goal from henceforth, to be less motivated by things, and more motivated by self worth, and those whom I love.

Matthew 19:21 and 22
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great posessions.

God forgive us for forgetting what is really important...