So, MMM decided a change had to happen. Our pile of shoes NEEDED to decrease.
I guess he was right.
We laid out every pair of shoes that were currently in the house.
There were over 40! That truly is ridiculous.
My only defense is that some of them weren't actually mine, but that's a small justification.
MMM had fun documenting just how many shoes we had.
He has been prodding me to get rid of shoes probably our whole marriage!
We managed to get rid of nearly half.
Think we made a dent? I do.
But it does make me consider how spoiled we really are being here.
It's the classic guilt inducer "hungry kids in China" or "shoe-less kids in Africa",
but even if I get rid of a few pairs of shoes, I'm really not doing much (if anything at all) to help those kids.
Should I get rid of all my shoes and go barefoot? I don't know.
I think we should be generous with what we have.
I think we should be willing to give up what we have when we come across people in need.
It's not an easy thing to do.
I pray we can all increase in generosity, so that in our generosity, the name of Jesus may be praised.
Consider Luke 3:8-11 --
ReplyDeleteJohn the Baptist told the people this:
<<(8)Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
<<(9)The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
<<(10)“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
<<(11)John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”>>
Maybe you can ask God to lead you to people who need some of the extra things you have.