So Much Junk

Every time that I pack, be it for a short vacation with my family, a week with my dad, a summer at camp, or a year at college, I always have to look at the things that I've piled together and say to myself, "Holy guacamole, I've got a lot of junk!"

For some reason, I always pack more than I need. Freshman year was a sad example of that... I moved into my first dorm ever and realized that I had brought childhood dolls, clothes for the wrong seasons, enough pairs of shoes to cover the British army's feet, and enough pillows to make another bed out of. I recanted my dolls and let my mom take them home to be stored away, but everything else I kept, mostly because "I just don't know when I'll need it!"

I have to look at this as some form of insecurity. Why is it that people, (mostly girls, for some reason,) can't seem to let go of worldly possessions? Girls like to shop as a past-time. (Guys, if you're out there and like to shop to kill time, I'm not judging. Just stereotyping.) We end up socializing with each other and coming home with way more than we can afford, let alone than we need. And yet, at least for me, I keep going back, keep shopping on the internet (which has really become too easy of a way to spend money, in my opinion,) and the "junk" that keeps getting boxed up every school year continues to grow.

This summer, God opened my eyes to so much need, in the eyes of Russian orphans, Santa Fe homeless people, RFKC children. These people have all been given a life, a chance. And either life's been more cruel to them than the average person, or they've thrown it away. No matter what the case may be, they're still needing, still worse of than I am.

Those faces all crossed my mind as I was packing up my things, as I was looking in dumb-struck awe at the number of boxes I had piled up, things that I was going to need to fit, with the help of a miracle, into my side of a dorm room. I tried to pick out things that I didn't need, didn't use, and that, let's be honest, would never probably leave their hangers again, at least while in my possession. Even after I cleaned out all these unnecessary things, here I am on pack-the-car day, and my mother's cross-over is packed with the "big things", and I'm in the process of filling my tiny Dodge Neon with what's left, praying it will all fit.

I'm not trying to look down on people who have materialistic things, because I know that many of us (including my own self!) not only have them, but treasure many of the things we have bought or been given. I simply mean to reflect on how much importance we place on things that, in reality, will mean nothing, absolutely nothing, once we are able to gaze upon the loving face of our Savior in heaven. Glory be to God, who gives us Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice so that we have something, something so incredibly precious, to look forward to other than boxes of clothes and Disney movies. ;)

Blessings on all that you do!