Enough Already!

What does it mean to live simply? What does it mean to have enough? Why is it that in theory I like the concepts of living simply and having just enough, yet time and again, I'm pursuing more or providing more for my children?

I go to sleep and wake up with images of the recent Haiti earthquake victims in my head. As I laid down last night on my comfortable bed in my safe home, I gave thanks and asked God to please hurry and provide for those hurting in Haiti and around the world who have no place to sleep. As I poured my coffee this morning and chose from a variety of cereals and breads for my breakfast, I gave thanks and once again prayed for God to provide for his hurting Haiti children. I have more than enough and the sad fact is, my family often wastes the overflow.

Gandhi said, "Live simply so others may simply live," and the Bible concurs, advising that we're happiest if we don't have too much or too little money. If we have too little, we're constantly struggling and doing things that may not be good for us or our families so that we can eek out a living or provide for true needs (food, clothing, shelter, medical attention). Too much money, and we tend to focus on it and what it can buy, how to get more, and how to keep and protect what we do have. My former pastor once said the saddest family he'd ever met lived in a mansion behind a gated entrance and had every convenience that money could buy, yet the couple was divorcing and their children were estranged.

Four years ago I paid too much for an 8x10 color photograph of a sandal-shod, arthritic foot (seen above), which as you can imagine, my family prefers I hang only in the laundry room ~ for my own weird, personal enjoyment. Ok ... so it's NOT something that delights the senses or a thing of beauty around which you'd build a decorating scheme, but it was - at the moment I saw it and still continues to be - an important heart message to me. The leather of the shoe is frayed in several places, and the sole looks uneven and worn. The book in which I first saw the photo says that when she was offered a replacement pair, Mother Teresa of Calcutta refused - instead having the old sandals repaired again and again. She felt she had enough. What an example! I had mixed admiration and shame when I first saw the picture, and it haunted me until I had a larger copy of it as a reminder.

Like many people, even with head knowledge of being blessed and having more than enough, I still struggle with "acquisitionitis." Our lack of discipline in this area as a family, though, puts financial limits on what we realistically can do to help others here at home and around the world because we have not yet internalized "enough." Yes, we give to our church and charities that are dear to our hearts, but we could be doing much more. And for every person or family, what we're called to give or sacrifice is different or may change over the course of a lifetime. It certainly has changed in my own mind for my own family over the years. Only a close walk with the Holy Spirit will tell us what is required of us.

In "The Things We Leave Behind," Singer Michael Card writes, "Every heart needs to be set free from possessions that hold it so tight, and we can't imagine the freedom we find in the things we leave behind."

Today I'm longing for that freedom and the heart knowledge of "enough" that finally translates to action in all areas of our family life.