Sunday, August 14, 2011

Just Stuff...

Work work work...and for what? Just to get stuff? We spend many hours working each year to earn a paycheck. Some may have funds given to them by family or draw a check, but no matter if you have a job or acquire means some other way, the question still remains, what are you going to do with your money? Well of course, you're going to buy stuff! Stuff to go on the wall, stuff to cook, stuff to put in your car, stuff to make you smell good, stuff to wear when you go out, stuff to play, stuff to sit on your shelf. Some buy stuff with the intention to give it away to other, but only keep it for themselves, and you know what happens? It gets piled in your spare bedroom. Sometimes I wonder if some people suffer from being a hoarder but dont realize it? My wife tells me I have that problem all the time due to my reasoning to keep EVERYTHING and throw away only things that smell bad or could be deemed expired.
I was actually at my Aunt Helen and Uncle Bills house just last week, both of whom have passed away well into thier 80's. I remember going to thier house as a kid and loving every minute of it. Aunt Helen always had something good to eat and would slip me candy before, during and after dinner. Like most of my family, Uncle Bill and Aunt Helen had accumulated alot of knick knacks over the years. They used to own a little neighborhood store and still had old clocks, thermometers and wat knots all over the garage. In the kitchen, Aunt Helen kept wooden spoons and wrought iron utensils hanging on the wall along with other bowls, mixers, etc on the counter. The real treasure trove was in the dining room where she kept a buffet table, shelf and curio cabinent covered and jam packed with, candy dishes, old news papers, books, games, clippings, pictures, gadgets and other odds and ends that I was intrigued with. One of my favorite things was an electronic bird that was her "pet" as she called it. Every now and then she would reach into that cabinent in the dining room and pull out this little bird in a box and tell it to sing for me and oh how much fun I had with that little guy. She also had one shelf dedicated to souviners that thier family had gotten on different vacations. A little calendar from Florida that flipped over each day as the date changed, little ash trays from little towns they had visited, oh and of course salt and pepper shakers from our very own dog patch trading post here in London.
Being back in the house last week brought so many memories to mind. As we walked through the house looking at different things, even noticing the picture that hangs on the wall behind the couch where it always had, an oil painting of Uncle Bill and Aunt Helen, one thing kept coming to mind. When you leave this place called earth, everything you leave behind stays behind. You can keep everything and anything. Put back all the canned veggies, paper bags, newspapers, dishes and tools, but one day when God calls you home, in the end, its just stuff. That ash tray that you bought in Montana, is now just stuff to be packed. That can opener that didnt work right but you hated to throw it away so you stored it in the attic, is now just stuff for somebody to dispose of. The clothing that you cant wait to wear out to dinner, but only wear it once, now becomes stuff that somebody else will give away. The bedroom suit that you maxed out your credit card to purchase, now becomes stuff that somebody will buy at a discounted price. From shoes, to cars. from golf clubs to jewlery. From old cool whip bowls to fine china, when the final buzzer sounds in life its all just stuff.
So keep in mind that when you spend your hard earned paycheck on something that makes you look as cool as somebody else, or you make that large purchase that puts you into debt when you could have gotten by with something much less expensive, ask God to give you wisdom on how to spend your money, because there could be a better way. But not only should we consider the Lord in our spending, but in our giving! The next time you buy a new shirt, give one of your old ones away. When you purchase a new sofa, find a new couple just married in your church or neighborhood and bless them with new furniture. Big, small, pricey, or cheap...when you leave this life, in the end what you leave behind, well its all just stuff!