Loving People More Than Possessions

When I asked my 1st graders what they would take if they had to leave home and could only take 1  thing with them. They all had similar responses; a blanket, favorite stuffed animal, or a special toy. If I ask the same question of adults they invariably say pictures or something that holds memories of a time with family and friends.

Kids get caught up in their things being the most important to them. One way to tell we are maturing is to realize that relationships are what we value not material stuff. Yet, we all spend too much to get too much that crowds our houses and then we have to buy containers to house our stuff and ultimately donate or sell our unnecessary stuff at garage sales.

George Carlin's famous bit about the time we waste with the stuff in our lives is classic. Ron and I are getting ready to have a garage sale next weekend and the amount of stuff that we have that we definitely don't need is mind boggling. Although it feels like we are doing a thorough job of weeding out, I bet if we started all over again in a month we would realize we overlooked a lot we should have sold.

Hopefully, we can instill in our kids that acquiring possessions is not what makes your life meaningful or complete. So, I will use the perfectly good purses that I have and be happy with the old barbeque that works even if it is ugly and small. I want to remember what is really of value in my life, the people in my life, not the things in my life.

In Him,
Joyful
10-16-2010