Excess = AG

Ok, so I've been on the "simplify," "excess" bandwagon for quite a little bit now. I haven't flown through my book yet (distracted by all the other books I could be reading), but alas, much unconcious marination has been going on (yes, I know I ended a sentence with a preposition, all you grammar police - nothing can be done). So, in this marinating on excess mindset, I took my daughter, Rachel, to Alpharetta for her "I'm almost 11 years old, and I get to go on my trip alone with just Mommy" trip.

We got to the American Girl store on Friday morning. -- Let me just hault a moment here and offer a little preface, I love American Girl. I love all that it teaches, all that it stands for, and I can even stomach the astronimical prices because seriously, have you seen the detail on those tiny little shoes?! So please do not hear me ragging on American Girl and saying that AG is what is wrong with the world today. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Having said that, what I saw at the AG, was emaculate, perfectly dressed women with 3 or 4 little daughters, ages 4-7 years old, carrying lots of big boxes (if you know AG, you know the big boxes are the "money" boxes). I saw those little girls carrying their previously purchased hundred dollar dolls, by the foot while dragging their hair across the floor - I thought Rachel might choke the little girl in line in front of us! These 40 to 50 (the store is always PACKED) little girls had multiple dolls and their moms where piling up more. These children have no idea of the sacrifice it took to buy them all of these expensive things! Am I saying that it's wrong to buy things if you have the money? No. Am I saying that it's wrong to make your precious little angel dance with joy at the sight of a new American Girl? No. What I think I AM saying is that these 5 year olds are already piling up the "stuff" without any idea of what was sacrificed to have them, so they are starting off their little lives already in the mindset of excess - without even realizing it (gestures with both hand in air in "fed up" gesture)!

Enough said. What are your thoughts?

Well...I'm beginning a journey, wanna come?

Howdy! Obviously I have not kept up with my blog. I'd like to blame the kids or Bobby, or school, or the dog, or even the 9 new snails (Amy, you are trouble!), but the fact of the matter is, I have a hard time sticking with things. I get all excited about whatever the new thing is, and I can't wait to get going. I go along fine for....not very long at all, and then I get distracted by the next NEW thing - you know what I'm talking about all my sanguine friends! So, I'm changing gears on this Blog thing. I started with Movies and seeing Jesus in life. I may come back to that, but right now I feel like God is sending me on a journey, and I need to document it. I realize that I only have 5 people following this, and those 5 may have given up on me. But I am terrible at journaling (see above), and I feel like if I have this "out there," and I am accountable to the void that is Cyberspace, I might keep up with it - maybe. For several years God has been gently telling me "simplify" "Get back to your first love" "give" "get rid of your crap" (well, maybe God didn't say crap, but I know he meant it). Then, when I went to Greece last year on a mission trip, he renewed his whispering to me - materialism, give, etc. Now I don't think I'm particularly materialistic, but as Jen Hatmaker said, "My closet [and every other space in my house] tell a different story." I have too much crap! I'm not sure what all the spiritual lessons are in this, but I know that God has said clearly (which doesn't happen frequently to me) "SIMPLIFY." So I have started reading "Seven: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" in an effort to work on this. We'll see how it all goes...