Tag: simplicity

How do you find the balance between what you want and what you need? Especially when it comes to your kids, whom you and the grandparents and aunts and uncles want to shower with good things?

I am missing out on so much.

Every day, I am bombarded with thousands of images of what I don’t have. If only I looked like this famous person or wore those shoes or had that latest tech gizmo, I would be worthwhile. In our culture of consumerism, I am what I own.

I would love to say that I rise above this mindset, but a recent trip to a large suburban mall reminded me that too often, I buy in to it.

My best friend and I perused store after store and watched other shoppers pick up items without even a glance at the price tag. We left the mall frustrated. Angry, even. I was infuriated … not because people were spending hundreds of dollars on shoes and clothes they’d forget about after summer’s end, but because I couldn’t afford those things.

This mindset is not only hitting our wallets, but taking us away from the heart of Jesus himself. (more…)