Post the Thirteenth: In Which Liz Contradicts Herself And Wants More

I found myself ogling the Apple store this morning.  Wanting to buy a Macbook and an iPod.  I've wanted an iPod for ages.  I want a Macbook because...

Because it will transform me into SuperMum who can do everything AND study!  I'll be able to write at will, study at will and keep on top of everything.  Because our possessions say something about us and a Macbook will say that I'm funky.  Intelligent.  Discerning.  Not a frumpy Mummy.  That I'm artsy.  A writer.  A learner.  I'll be able to actually take advantage of the free WiFi spots offered around the place.  Because it will make my life more interesting.

Am I just dreadfully sinful and envious or is there some deep-seated dissatisfaction that I need to deal with?  Or both?

Am I not living out the life God wants me to?  Am I stifling some of who God made me?  Quashing it to live the life I am living now? 

The life of a Stay-At-Home-Mum is where God wants me.  A homemaker and home-schooling parent and devoted wife.  I don't want to change those things, but I want more.  I want to be a person in my own right as well.

Sigh.  When will it end?  Knowing me, never.

Post The Tenth: Random Musings on Generosity and Possessions

I think we have too much "stuff".  Too many possessions, too many things.  The more we have the more space we need to store it.  The more we have the more time we spend looking at, using, looking after, cleaning and packing away these items.  We spend money upgrading or adding on to our possessions, or collecting more of the same.

We waste energy worrying about our possessions.  Am I using it to its fullest potential?  Is it big enough, fast enough, efficient enough to do the job?  Will it break down and I will be left in the lurch?  Will someone steal it?  Will it get damaged by fire?   Flood?  Children? (LOL)

In all our worry, we beging to value our possessions much more than we should.  We forget generosity.  God is able to provide for His children, and does.  Giving things away is freeing because we no longer need to worry about that possession.  We don't have the burden of protecting it.  We don't have the responsibility to care for it.  We don't have to store it, trip over it or wonder what to do about it if we no longer need it.

God is a generous God.  He freely gives to us blessings we do not deserve.  We are to be like Him, and one of the ways we can be like God is to be generous.

We can be generous by donating possessions to charities for them to give to needy families or sell and use the revenue to help the needy.  However, generosity is much more meaningful when it is personal.  While you can thank God for a great find at an op shop (something that you needed/had been looking for that you found for a great price) I find that thankfulness overflows all the more when someone *gives* us something, no strings attached.

Let's bless others by being generous with what we have.  We can never outgive God!