99
Days of Summer: Even though many kids are starting back to school
today, including two of my grandchildren, I am clinging to my belief
that it is wrong and may verge on evil. :) There are 99 Days of Summer
this year, Memorial Day to Labor Day, and our kids have been cheated!!!
Maybe that was one reason I home schooled, I wanted control of how long
vacations lasted. There is too much fun to be had, too many warm days
left, the Berrien County Youth Fair is this week, so how could kids
possible miss that! Don't get me wrong, I love school and believe in
our kids having a good education, but I also believe it can be
accomplished through the things they learn during vacation time, as much
as it can during the school year. So, now that I have gotten that off
my chest :) I will spend this week sharing some tips with you that in
the words of Rich Mullins, "at the risk of being redundant, it may not
thrill you, but i
t could not hurt." So,
here goes: You (that is a collective "you") have too many clothes! As
Americans we spend time staring into our closets claiming we have
NOTHING to wear. This isn't the sermon about, "eat your dinner, there
are starving children in China," it is stating the simple facts. As you
know, I love to garage sale. I am constantly amazed at the
wastefulness and over abundance of our society. Last week I hit the
jackpot at a sale where the woman was bragging to a fellow shopper that
she could not leave Walmart without having spent $100. It was evident
she had a problem as I looked through tables piled with brand new
clothes, many with tags still attached and many duplicates. I know this
is an extreme case, but my time in Africa changed my view of
consumerism forever. I love clothes and shoes as much as the next girl,
ok, I love shoes more than a lot of girls, but I still try to be
practical. A friend gave me an article from Time magazine about a study
done by UCLA on the American home. It was very interesting, revealing
the average family has 52 items on their refrigerator. The average
family has 39 pair of shoes. The wife in the article, and I, upped that
average. :) The U.S. has 3.1% of the world's kids and 40% of its
toys. On average an American home has 438 books and magazines, 212
CD's, 90 DVD's, and 139 toys. So, to start this week, I challenge you
to think about your closets first. Start by sorting the clothes into
categories, shirts, dresses, pants, shorts, and then turn all the
hangars backwards on the rod. Count the number of items in each
category. Tomorrow we will work on Step 2 and see if you can become
"below average."
Word
for Today, Understanding: When tragedy strikes we all want to try to
make sense of the situation. Whether it is the Trade Towers or the
suicide of a young person that seemed to have so much potential, the
sudden death of a loved one or news that someone close to us has
experienced a serious accident, we look for the reasons why. The older I
get, and the longer I walk with the Lord, the more I have come to
understand that some things will just never make sense. God blessed us
with a free will to make choices and so, sin entered the world. The
tragedies we experience are not always related to our personal choices,
contrary to what many espoused after the Trade Tower attacks, I don't
believe it was judgement, it was sinful man acting out his free will and
others paying the consequences, just like when Cain killed Able. My
Mom didn't die last year because of something she did or didn't do. As
my friend, Sony, reminded me this morning, the book of Ecclesiastes
says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under
heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die." God only, "knows the
number of my days." So, I will rejoice in the birth of my newest great
nephew, and I will mourn with my friend over the death of her
son-in-law. I will continue to wonder why a young man chose to take his
life last week and why my Mom suddenly died. But, like David in the
Psalms, I will say, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him."
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