Material Girl?

Never say you are going to do something around this house, because just as soon as you plan to do something, plans change. I thought I would be home all week last week. NOT! It was a busy week, and unfortunately an emotional week. All in all I am glad it’s over. As for my weekend it was great. I will share a few highlights this week.

Friday afternoon and night, Kevin and I sorted and cleaned items for a yard sale. The yard sale was to benefit my Jamaica Mission Trip. We set up by 8:00am on Saturday morning at friends’ house and an hour later it was steadily raining. We packed up and left w/ $30 toward my air fare.

The be-all and end-all of life should not be to get rich, but to enrich the world. -- B. C. Forbes

I have a few thoughts about yard sales. I have always loved going to yard sales. I don’t go often but when I have I always like to find a “prize” so to speak…that one item that is a great deal or at least is very unique. I like to host yard sales because when all the work is done and you are sitting around selling your wares then you get to meet new people and many times friends drop by.

However, this is my main thought about yard sales. We as Americans own way too many things! How is it that we have so much excess in our homes that we can have a yard sale once a year or perhaps 2 times a year? When you are the shopper, you can get some essentials for the home at some reasonable prices and in great condition. You can be considered “green” and environmental. We that sell…we have too much. A friend and fellow participant in the Jamaica Mission Trip from 2008 pointed out, “You don’t see yard sales in Jamaica.” They struggle to have just their basic needs and essential furniture. They love nice things, and colorful items but to have excess, no.

There is something perverse about more than enough. When we have more, it is never enough. It is always somewhere out there, just out of reach. The more we acquire, the more elusive enough becomes. –Unknown

I visited a home of a doctor this weekend. They have a nice home with a beautiful view. Their home had some nice furniture but it was simple. No clutter. They had items that were necessary but no ornate, busy décor. I wanted to come home and clear the walls and tables and have their clean, simple, look. In their home you knew what was important which is the company they keep and their relationship with their children.

It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. --Thoreau

So I type all this to say, no more yard sales after my Jamaica fundraising is through. I will scale back on purchases, and learn to get rid of something before I bring something in. I want simplicity and I want to have enough. I want contentment and no desire to have excess and to not covet worldly goods. It should be interesting around here as I go through room to room and dump and/or give away.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. --Jim Elliot

I have things. I have things I love. I have things I need. I have nothing, however, more important than who I have in my life. I thought about these people a lot this week. It is my reflection on my relationships with friends, and family that my weekend took an emotional turn. I will share on this tomorrow night. I am working all day tomorrow till 5:30/6:00pm.

The riches that are in the heart cannot be stolen.
—Russian Proverb