Day 31: The End...of Month 1

     I typically blog with a certain lightness of heart. I'm not particularly interested in manipulating my readers' emotions, but where God takes me, I want to share this month. Because of the 7-ish theme that's running through my life, I feel like I've been looking at everything through this lens. As it happens during most tragedies, I took stock of my life this week because I had the misfortune of rubbing shoulders with sorrow. On Monday, I found out that the Daddy of one of my 4-year-old students lost his life in a work accident. I laid beside this little girl at naptime, rubbing her hair, and knowing that I was participating in a few of the last minutes of normalcy and happiness that she would experience for a while.

     I guess, as I close out this month of emphasis on possessions, I reference this story because my student's life didn't turn upside down over the loss of her summer dresses. She didn't cry herself to sleep over a cute little purse. This little girl is not mourning the loss of her favorite doll. She lost her Daddy. She cries over losing her Daddy. She mourns her Daddy. In the end, when life is really broken down to the very basics, our stuff carries no weight. And, at the end of our lives, our stuff will all disappear. If I spend my life working to make money to buy more stuff, I missed the point completely. I can say that I love God and that I love people, but where I spend my time and money speaks much more loudly than words. May I never be found in a mall when there is Kingdom work to be done. And, as I round out this Month with such a sigh, I find myself whispering, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come." May he redeem our selfish, consumeristic world with humility and selflessness.