For the 9 years i have lived in America, i have quickly realized the “need” for stuff to attain the “American dream”. In my opinion something that seems unattainable because as humans, we always reach for more and bigger. Don’t get me wrong, am all for buying things if we truly need them or sometimes want them as long as we are using cash and not borrowing money only to keep up with the Jones/look the part of “the American dream”.

Let’s start with getting married, the wedding planning….it seems to me as though we are keeping up with the Jones, swipe that credit card only to buy “stuff” that will be tossed out the next day just to impress our guests who will move on that very night living the bride and groom in stress of their brand new “baby”(debt)….how nice. Oh no, we didn’t forget the registry for that bridal shower where we are most likely told by the women we may look up to(been married for a long time) that we “need certain things/stuff in our home;the china cabinet to assemble our “fancy plates” that no one and i mean no one can ever touch or even come close to. This is serious, you have been at some one’s house or your own where you guard stuff in your china cabinet with your life literally. Yap, stuff just collecting dust and waiting to be passed on to the next generation who will probably not like it but will be obliged to keep it in the name of “heirloom”. Then comes the baby announcements, oh yea….little one “needs” every colorful plastic toy money can buy only to fill up the entire house with clutter that we cant think straight…..oh yea, am guilty here, i have done it myself. With our first baby, we took our pregnancy test at a target store 8 years ago and you better believe it, we went on a shopping spree we couldn’t afford for that little one. We have had to learn the hard way over the years that those little ones don’t care about the gazillion plastic toys we get the, they want to be loved, they desire our touch, our true undivided attention. Don’t get me wrong, am all for buying necessities to prepare for those babies.

Previously, i have found myself falling straight into the bandwagon as well….dreaming of that big ole house, filled with “my stuff”……creating a “little heaven” of my own. Oh yea, i would dream so big, even share with my very patient husband who in the first place has never seemed to care about keeping up with the Jones except for trucks….lol. Only in his dreams….i let him dream too. So a year ago we found that dream house, i was in love and we could afford the payments . Remember, we are only a family of four but this house could easily put up a family of twelve. Oh well, it’s my little”heaven on earth” after all and i deserve it, so i convinced myself. Fast forward five months into this beauty, i was stressed to pieces, i cried more that i ever had, instead of filling satisfied, i felt empty, it felt cold i hated it. I was once again quickly reminded that this big house was not going to be the source of my joy….only Christ!. Stuff is good but can be poisonous if it’s what we strive for day after day.

As the holidays draw near, we all know that it’s easy to get into the mind set of stuff. Stuff will be every where, we will want, desire and get consumed in it and believe me, in the end, we will be empty or and broke and more so, “needing more stuff”. Let’s all be reminded and be thankful for the gift of this precious life that has been redeemed through Christ. Let’s look forward to celebrating this birthday and be reminded of His great love and sacrifice for us. Let us not go through the motions by making this time of the year about perishable “stuff”. It’s good but it’s all dust and it will come to pass. Christ lives for ever!