I was going to get a pedicure today. Had an appointment and everything. But God, as He does, spoke to me yesterday afternoon. Through Facebook. A friend posted a link to this blog:
http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/
One of the entries shows pictures of her five adopted children interspersed with pictures of stuff and vacation destinations. In the entry she says she would choose those kiddos "again and again and again" over the stuff. I can get whiny and irritated and downright resentful at how much adoption costs. Maybe there is reform that is needed; I can't say I've researched it enough to have an educated opinion. But something I read in this blog hit me square. I think that we, as Christians especially, want to "have it all."
It's a different kind of "have it all" than "the world." (boy, I'm using a lot of quotation marks) And that's dangerous. See, I think the kind of thing I'm guilty of is wanting to have it all in that I truly do want to help others, adopt a child, and generally save the world, if you will. But I ALSO want to wear cute clothes, have a nice haircut, live in a home that I'm proud of and send my kids to private school. I want it all.
Today I'm thinking about just how much, or what, I'm willing to give up for the sake of something else that really matters. So for today I canceled the pedicure and put that money in a jar. I wonder how much I could save if I did this with the new clothes I want, the dinners out, the venti latte....you get the idea. How long would it take to save the tens of thousands of dollars it takes to adopt with this method?
Frankly, I'm kind of tired of "having it all." Even the Christian version. I feel a challenge coming on. Anyone in?
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And you gave me a hard time about my favorite shirt... =)
ReplyDeleteI'm in.
In... up over our heads... digging our way out. :) Finding lots of effective coupons, group discount deals, and second-hand for our family... and lovin' it.
ReplyDeleteToday we drove past the airport and the kids once again started asking/begging for a trip on the fantastic looking airplane taxiing down the runway. I thought about all of the exciting places Greg and I could take them to, not least of which to visit all the cousins in Salt Lake, and then realized that our life is a very simple one here at home these days.
We bargain shop the grocery stores for the weekly specials, cook twice as much as we used to, keep our a/c at 81 degrees (yes, your brother has adapted!), try to do home improvement projects that we have no business doing, reuse the same water bottles and ziploc bags for months, and the list goes on.
But I still have my weaknesses- caps in the am on work days, used books, and quality shoes, top the list. And then what about the kids' swim class this summer? Or their T-ball in the spring? Or Maya's ballet this fall? Or her pottery class? Does enrichment count as a meaningful expense or frivolous in the bigger picture? I know that if I look an orphan in the face, the answer is there. But it is easy to get tunnel vision when we are balancing work/family/life everyday.
-Cindy
So far the jar is filling up w the $$ we should have spent OB babysitting but Amy wouldn't accept, the $$ we would have spent on dinner but our friends paid for & my breakfast I passed up yesterday after fasting for a blood test. But the best of all was Isaiah giving his hard-earned give $$ to the jar after learning what it was for....not that we're that certain but who knows what God's got up his sleeve. Thx, babe, for being so amazing. I love you!!!
ReplyDeletei am in...funny kinda had this conversation twice with different peps this week!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say that I think YOU ROCK!!!! Way to go on cancelling that appointment- it is so hard to change what we have always been blessed to know- but by doing so you are making a difference- and changing your world! :)
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