31 Days: Day 28

A little ranting soapbox for your Sunday morning. You’ve been warned.

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I made our way over to a popular store for newly engaged couples to register at. I won’t say their name, but if you’ve ever been to a wedding, chances are pretty good that they were one of your registry options.

After getting signed up and everything, we walked around with our “registry consultant” aka a lady who is going to convince you to register for the most expensive thing out there. After feeling pressured with our first item, I put my foot down. We certainly don’t need a $200 knife. I don’t care how thick the blade is or whatever. It’s just unnecessary.

Once our little lap around the store was over, we ate dinner and headed home. (I also need to say that Ryan was a champ. He was seriously dreading it, but I think at one point, he actually was a little excited.) Over the next few days, I sat down to read one of the 20 “guides” they give you for what you need. And on one of those guides, it talked about bedding. It seriously suggested that you need THREE sets of sheets for each bed: one on the bed, one in the closet, and one in the laundry.

(An aside: now let me just say that I totally get it. They are trying to make money. Heck, I work in a small store where I basically convince people to CONSUME all day long. But I would never try to get someone to buy something they didn’t need.)

So back to the sheets. I understand maybe wanting two sets. Totally understandable. One clean, one dirty. But for over a year now, I have lived with ONE set of sheets and my life has not been lacking anything or any more difficult. I get home from work and they are clean and dried before bed. It’s not that much of an inconvenience.

This is where America is today. We are totally driven by consumerism. And I really don’t have THAT much of a problem with it. The problem I have is with the excess. Do I really need another coat? Last night, it finally got cold and I finished 7 by Jen Hatmaker. (More thoughts about this coming, but I am ruined from it. In the best way possible.) So I looked in my coat closet and saw how many coats I had. Coats that I haven’t worn in the past several years. Coats that could keep someone warm. And here I am hoarding them because I might need them one day. Well guess what. There is probably someone out there that needs it TODAY. I am disgusted with myself. I got rid of three and have another that I should, but I just really like it. But Sloan, there is someone in this world without a coat. And they are cold and you have 3 others in your closet. Sigh.

I realize how Debbie Downer these posts have been, and I would say that I’m sorry, but I’m not. This is where my heart is right now. Jesus, who never even owned a bed, much less three sets of sheets, is probably cringing. I am finally understanding the verse about how it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of needle than an rich man to get into Heaven. Wake up and smell the coffee. If you are reading this on a computer, YOU are rich.

 

 

 

Um, also… HOW ‘BOUT THEM DAWGS???

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