Enough

Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it."

I am rich, very very rich. Our bank account sometimes looks scary, braces for Rachael have us strapped, and school tuition bites us every month. But I am rich. Richer than most, I think. I have a thankful heart. Most people live in a perpetual state of want. In other countries - and many folk right here in my country - people want for food, shelter, basic necessities. Here in greedy North America, we are constantly wanting another thing to add to our bulging accumulation of stuff that makes us feel better about ourselves.

I find myself wanting more stuff often. I'm no different than any one else. I like nice things. I like to impress others too. But I realize that I don't need more. If God chose to never give me another extra in life, I recognize I'd still have a better life than most people I share this planet with.

My friends are huge consumers. Their consumerism clouds their vision. They can't see their houses packed (cluttered?) with every imaginable extra for the desire for more. Very seriously, I have been asked, "How can you live without_____?" (Fill in the blank. It's been a number of things.) Their lives are so much more complex than my own and I watch them and thank God for my simple, thankful life. My life is not complex and I think that makes me very rich.

Yesterday I had a wonderful day. I was basking in simple blessings that cost me nothing. At work, I picked up my "project" fabric and supplies for 2 of my girls' snazzy sweatsuits for Christmas. They will love them and the fleece and supplies are simply perks for working at my store. I felt so blessed.

In the mail I received a book that had one of my devotions printed in it. A collection from "women who listen to God." I was again blessed. When my life is simple and thankful, it takes very little to feel blessed.

We have fallen for such a lie of the devil. We think we need more all the time. Will we ever have enough? Consumerism and greed are never sated without a fight.

Proverbs 30:8,9 "Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, "Who is the Lord?" And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name." Enough is when we are neither rich or poor. What a blessed place to be and recognize it.