Mine! Mine!

How much stuff do you have?  
Are your closets overflowing?  
How about your basement or garage?  
Is your car a moving storage unit in addition to a mode of transportation?  
Do you have actual storage units for the things that don't fit anywhere else?

I'm guilty of chasing after stuff.  If I had a dollar for each time I've said, "Oh, I want that!"... well I would be able to get a lot more stuff!!  

(sigh)  

It's sad, but true.

There have been times in life when I have been pretty focused on getting material things I thought I "deserved."  I would like to think it is a phase we all go through.... at least that thought makes me feel better. 

A month or so ago I was dusting around some memorabilia-type things.  I enjoy having them, but thought maybe it was time to put them away as I was tired of having to move them each time I cleaned.

Enter God.

The message in church the following Sunday was about our "stuff."  

How we yearn for it.  

How we collect it.  

How we covet it.  

How we always, always want more.   

It is a vicious circle:  chasing after, buying, and squirreling away things we don't really need.  This constant craving keeps us in a state of discontent and as a result we are never happy with what we have, because it is never enough.  We spend so much time and energy in the pursuit of our stuff that often we have no energy or time for the really important things in life.

This topic made me think of the seagulls in the movie Finding Nemo.  They are continually plowing each other over trying to get fish, unashamedly and exuberantly squabbling with each other for what they feel is rightfully theirs, while  the whole time screeching at the top of their lungs, "Mine! Mine!" 

Not a very pretty picture, is it? 


Like the seagulls, we get a "fish" and should be content for a bit, but then we spot another one that looks even bigger and better, screech a possessive "Mine!"... and we are off again.  Once in our possession,  those things we worked so hard to get suddenly lose their sparkle and luster...and our interest,  and we find ourselves wanting something new. 

So with the message in church received, I came home and started cleaning closets...again.  I made a pile for Goodwill, a pile of things to give to people that I knew would use them, and a pile of things to put 

on E-Bay.  I told Michael whatever money came about from the sale of the Ebay-items would go toward acts of kindness or charities.  We aren't talking expensive things, but a few items added together can do some good for others.  

Here's what I have done with the money from the E-Bay sales so far:

- Act of Kindness for Shawn B-T (Facebook RAK Project)

- Act of Kindness for Marcia S  (Facebook RAK Project)

- Act of Kindness for Elizabeth R  (Facebook RAK Project)

- Act of Kindness for Chelsea M (Facebook RAK Project)


In addition I purchased items for Alternatives Pregnancy Center in Waterloo, where my stepdaughter Lindsay works.  

 - Diapers for the babies.  

- Devotional books, toothpaste, and shampoo for the moms.  

- Cleaning items for the pregnancy center.

- And we gathered change for the Baby Bottle Drive.

- Lastly, I made a donation to Life 107.1, my favorite radio station.  It is listener funded and keeps me encouraged and inspired whether at home or on the road. 

- An added blessing of the above was that we were sent 2 CD's as a thank you for our donation to Life 107.1.  We kept one CD and passed the other on to share with someone else.  


And I'm not done yet.  

There are still more things that will hopefully sell and I can use that money to do more good.  In addition Michael has been going through things as well and found some items to donate and some to sell.  He will choose where to donate any money that his items bring in.  Talk about fun... there are so many great causes and those checks are so fun to write!

On a deeper level, the message in church that day was a reminder that everything we have is from God.  We don't deserve the blessings He sends our way... but He chooses to bless us anyway.  We do earn our paychecks, but even our jobs are provided by God. All things are from Him, we are simply the temporary caretakers of what He has blessed us with. 

I love the movie Finding Nemo.  I can so relate to Dora.  And I can laugh at the seagulls - even though they get pretty annoying.  But the more I think about it, I wonder if that is how we look to God sometimes.... constantly running in circles, pursuing the next thing that catches our eye,  and screeching as loud as we can, "Mine!" rather than appreciating and doing good with what He has already given us.  

So what are you collecting? 

I'm pretty sure we are all guilty of wanting.  I don't think God begrudges us having nice things,  but I do think some day He will ask me: 
"So Barb, what did you do with all my blessings? Did you use them wisely to benefit others or did you tuck them all away for yourself?"

He will already know the answer.  

I need to make sure it is an answer I can live with.  

I have some work to do friends.