:the best things in life:

she had long blonde hair. so long you imagine it never touched by scissors. a plain jane, this one, but lovely still. she sat in that corner metal chair rarely embarrassed to share her thoughts. somewhat adamant about her opinions. one encounter stands out in my mind though from many years ago. she came into sunday school and said the night before she bagged up nearly half of her belongings to donate. she said she had to, she felt so guilty about having so much when others had so little.

i stood there and thought, she's nuts. why would you bag up your stuff. i mean i know there are people who have less than me but i'm not giving away half of my stuff. who in the world would expect that of me?

***

i made a list in a pretty little notebook. a sucker for cute notebooks and great writing pens. every single room detailed of its excess. things to trash. things to donate. things to sell. room by room , purging. decluttering. though my mission is not spurred by guilt but by neccessity. less things mean less clutter. less clutter means less places for dirt to collect which means less cleaning for me. less clothing means less washing. less stuff means less distractions.

less cleaning, less washing and less distractions means more play, more snuggles, more adventures and more laughter with my family.

those little ones, they are watching. they know what's important to me by where i spend my time and resources. there is a good chance that i will rear children that are somehwat like me. if i think of people more highly than things, maybe they will too. if i use our resources to bless those around us, maybe they will too. if i place value on family and memories made rather than shopping and things obtained, maybe they will too.

the best things in life, aren't things at all, are they?