Necessities?

I have a strong desire to live simply and for the most part, in a lot of my natural inclinations as well as actions, I do that. I do it for many reasons--some to be frugal, some to be more thankful for what I have, and some so that I can give more money to things other than me and those around me that already have basically everything a human could and should want!

Anyway though, my dear Mother who also lives simply and much more generously, said to me, "Lyn, I'm always buying stuff like shoes, tights, whatever the kids need. Do you and Jack need anything? If so, go get it and I'll pay you back." I wrote her back, "oh gosh, no, I don't need anything." But then I got to thinking about it...it was kind of like a door I never open...or rarely anyway. And so here's what I've ended up with.

Dress socks. Oh my goodness, I have never had a pair of dress socks in my life and rarely have I needed them, or so I thought. My, my shoes fit a lot nicer with dress socks. Ha! And glaring white doesn't stick out above my shoe when I cross a leg. :) I got a pair of sandals so that I can chuck ALL my flip flops. I'm in my 30's. I LOVE flip flops but the $3 variety has been hurting my back. They are brown and you will see them on my feet pretty much every day between May and October next year, unless I'm barefoot, which is even better. I also got a pair of warm fuzzy clogs that will make the winter truly more bearable. Oh, and some new underwear! I guess I did need some stuff, Mom.

Truly these things aren't necessities and I know it. Through my years of this journey of wanting to live in equality with the least of these, which OBVIOUSLY isn't happening, I have grown and learned and am not finished at all. In the process I've had to budge a little and find a balance so that my family doesn't go berserk. It's still on my heart though to absolutely revolt against the system of this world, or maybe just this country, because while I am grateful for what I have, I can't forget how weird it is that people all over the planet don't even have shelter and food. I'm not that smart, I'm not proposing that I know how to fix it, and I can't even point to what we're doing wrong. But somehow it's just wrong, simply because of the result of it. So, my blog is taking a downward turn right now--sorry about that!--but this is me, living in the middle of this thankfulness for my new pack of underwear and also wanting to lead a revolution for equality and seeing to it that WE will not be guilty of having too much while others have too little. Oh, Jesus, show us how to live out Your Kingdom here and if we're in too deep to be able to see our way out, shine a great big light!!!