I've been a little busy since I last posted, hubby was home all week last week resting up trying to get over his pneumonia....again. This time he took a week's vacation to rest, he slept almost all week. He went back to work yesterday and is there today.
Since it is our church's General Conference weekend we are at home today to watch it on the internet so this morning wasn't an early morning to get to church. So the girls and some of the cats and I walked around the yard and front pasture. While we were there we picked blackberry leaves and found some ripe dewberries they were yummy in my morning oatmeal along with a couple of fresh strawberries from our little patch.
The peaches are blooming and look so pretty little leaves are popping up as well on them and the apple trees. New leaves are popping out on all the trees oak, maple, etc. It is such a pretty green.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about consumerism, isn't that a silly thing to think about? Anyway we need clothing, food, transportation, basic furnishings and things for our homes, etc etc But there is a fine line,I think, of what we need and what we want. We can go around and around about this it is something that is talked about a lot needs vs. wants but what I've been thinking of is a little different. Though I don't think I can put it in words so you can understand what I am thinking, but I will try.
Yesterday I saw this young woman with her young child they were in a car that was all decked out with gold colored trim and wheel rims, the windows were mirror tinted, the car was waxed a mirror finish. The detailing job on the car alone would fill her tank once but to her these were important details to me and my almost 200,000 mile mini van that is dusty most of the time because of where we live, it was extravagant.
A young family at the grocery store has a cart filled with boxed foods of all kinds for breakfast, lunch and dinner no fruit or fresh veggies all processed and premade. I see this alot at our local Walmart to see their food bill would probably cause a lot of stress to me.
Having a nice home is important, energy saving windows and doors, insulation, good roof...But do we need mcmansions with extravagant furnishings or a trinket from every single place we have ever been to including the local gas station.
I think our view of things has gotten so out of whack we see only things and lots of them to be life sustaining things, we look at basic needs being met as being poor.
I for one have to many things, yesterday my mom and I had a yard sale about half the items I sold were things I have bought at yard sales or the consignment shop. I get very frustrated and stressed I feel closed in with stuff, stuff I think is important to life. But its not important.
Maybe it goes back to, he who has the most toys wins, but we can't take any of it with us and our families get stuck with figuring out what to do with all our stuff. I went to a yard sale last year and the woman had her mom's doll collection in her 2 car garage, she was trying to sell them, there were hundreds of them they weren't selling and her husband wanted his garage back. She also had several other collections her mom thought were important but the woman didn't want them.
We need basic things but we can't live without having the best, brightest, most, colorful, etc etc. It is all very confusing to me how we are trapped in the never ending hamster wheel of the world.
Have a blessed day
Erika
Erika, what a delightful walk. Your little goats are so darling. And what are dewberries? They sound wonderful.
ReplyDeleteGina,
DeleteDewberries are like blackberrys or raspberrys. They vine along the grown though while the other two climband have shots that come out. They are very seedy but make a good jam for biscuits. I've made where I. Took out the seeds and it wasn't as good for some reason.
Erika
Several years ago we had to move my mother from her home to a retirement apartment. After tossing bags and bags of knickknacks from the dollar store and old clothing, I swore I'd never do that to my children. That's one of the reasons I choose to live in a very small (700 square feet) house. Having virtually no closets also keeps me from having too much. We always pay cash for our cars so they are never fancy. I think if more people paid cash for things, they might be surprised to find out what they can truly afford. Of course it helps to be older and well-past the wanting stage of life!
ReplyDeleteWhen we used to have cable TV, I would sometimes watch those General Conferences on the BYU channel. The lectures are usually inspiring and uplifting. Any good ones this year?
ReplyDeleteYour peach blooms and blackberries look great! Sometimes, I wish we had a larger yard so I could attempt to try and grow some things on my own. Oh well, I am learning to be content with what God has given to us.
I hear what you are saying about needs verses wants. It's something I struggle with too. Having more things and more stuff can be overwhelming. I think sometimes, we get so used to having stuff surrounding our being that it seems normal, when really, it's not. I wish I could truly learn to live with less, but it's not easy.
This was a delightful post to read. :)
Mara,
DeleteThe dewberries actually grow wild just about everywhere we usually pick a bunch every spring you might find some in your area.
Conference had some wonderful talks there was one that hit on some of the things in this post. Family, looking to the Lord, prayer there were a few I took lots of notes on. I missed one session because of our yard sale I want to watch it this week. You can go to lds.org and bring up the conference and rewatch it or read the talks individually.
Erika
I am finding out I am not the only one with my problems....I also have a house full of things from thrift stores that need to go into a garage sale:) And I just donated all the extras I could find and think of to our church garage sale....then found another box...and another. We are a blessed people:)
ReplyDeleteThos little goats are precious!