So, I am on a bit of a soapbox these days. And, I’m pretty sure most of the people in my life (including myself) are guilty of putting the box in my path.
Here it is…WHAT is the deal with people always wanting COMP TICKETS TO EVERYTHING?! Let me put it this way: Let’s say you have a good friend who you would pay money to go have dinner or drinks with. You probably just dropped at least $20-$30 on that endeavor…and that happens often, right? SO. Why are you unwilling to spend $10-$20 on supporting said friend in their LIFE, their BUSINESS, their DREAMS, etc.?! And, for the most part, the people asking for comp tickets HAVE THE MONEY to buy the ticket. It’s the college students who are paying for the tickets that could use a comp ticket every once in a while. ARGH!!!
A lot of my close friends are artists, musicians, writers, etc. Why WOULDN’T I want to invest in their life? It seems a bit selfish to think that just because you know someone, you should get their product and their time for free. I wouldn’t walk into a clothing store that a friend owns and just take clothes, so why would I TAKE tickets from my friends in the biz?!
Told you I was on a soapbox! And, for the record, I have been SUPER guilty of this in the past. Free tickets, free books, free CDs, free swag…whatever I could get. I just realized a while back that I was guilty…and now I am striving to be a little more responsible and RESPECTFUL.
Ok, I’m done. Thoughts? :O)
Lately, I have been reminded that I have lost my focus a bit. There was a time when I was wiling to rid my life of unnecessary things, things that are considered “luxury”, things that don’t have Kingdom or eternal impact. I’ve noticed, however, that my thoughts have traveled elsewhere as of late. I have become worried with “stuff” and my ownership (or lack thereof) of this “stuff”.
Time to get back on track.
Time to realize that God’s provision and blessings are not always monetary. In fact, MOST of the time they are not monetary. And I never want to become dependent on believing that they are. I struggle with the whole concept that God’s favor is expressed monetarily. I don’t believe that is a Biblical concept. After spending time in Africa and seeing faithful, joyful, happy people who have literally nothing, I “GOT” it. I just forgot that I “got” it.
And now it’s time to get back on track.
Over and over throughout the Bible, God tells us, shows us, imparts to us wisdom and truth. That, to me, is the TRUE blessing of God. It is not something that can be purchased or earned. It is something we, by faith, have to take and digest and apply to our lives.
Dig in!
Some days and times find me off kilter and I get frustrated that I can't seemingly do anything about it. I need to give myself the space to figure things out, but struggle with the control aspect of it all…or lack of control?!
Trusting that God has the bigger picture in front of me is tough, but I want to be faithful to do just that. So, my prayer is for my faith to increase, trust to skyrocket and fears to subside.
Ok, that is all. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.