My struggle with possessions

As I sit and soak in the scenery of one of my favorite places on Earth, I can’t help but praise the King of the universe for all His glory. The way the whimsical trees sway in the wind and how the sun looks like a rainbow as it sets over the water. It’s all so magical and yet I am distracted. I’m finding that I’m allowing my desire for more possessions overtake my desire to be present.

One of my favorite views on Spring Island

I desperately want Jesus to be the center and heartbeat for the Christmas season, and yet each year I allow the message for buying and owning more outweigh the true reason for Christmas. As the New Year is upon us, I feel like this is the perfect time to evaluate every area of life. During my evaluation process, the Lord really convicted me on my consumption of clothing for myself.  While I share about my own process and journey towards freedom in this area, I challenge you to look inwardly and assess what areas of your own life are bound in chains.

I share all of this because my heart is heavy. I watch, read, and learn all about the issues and severe problems our country has with consumption and yet I follow in suit by letting my actions look just like everyone else. I have this yearning for my life to be about more than working a job, making money, paying bills, and buying stuff. I want to create a culture in my life that is centered on the Kingdom of Heaven. As I pray into what this practically looks like for me, I realize that my habit of “going shopping” has slowly translated into an obsession. For new growth to take place, I have to put a halt to this pattern.

           

The Gospel invites us into a life of radical contentment, generosity, gratitude, trust, and simplicity. We can reimagine our assumptions about time, money, and material possessions to pursue a life of greater freedom, leveraging our time and resources toward what matters most. –Mark Scandrette

Growing up I was surrounded by a culture that thrived off of buying more. That was a primary topic and pass time that consumed my thoughts, action, and money. All though this habit isn’t bad in and of itself, it can easily become unnecessary and push out what matters most. During these times, I find myself making purchases that I don’t need and saying yes to things that aren’t adding any value to my life - but taking up space in my closet instead. This is so easy to do because our society is centered and seemingly stabilized by consuming more and more things. I want to confront the issue to simply bring awareness and honesty to a change that I desire to make in my own life.

I want to create balance and steadiness by being purposeful about the possessions that I bring into my life. Practically, this looks like steering my online browsing time to something more productive like investing time into others, cultivating more time for prayer and soaking up scripture. I want to cultivate the habit of asking myself “do I need this,” “will I actually wear this,” “how is this necessary” before bringing more possessions into my house. I want to be known for the way that I live my life not for the things I own. I want to fight for reflecting the nature of Jesus by the way I spend His money rather than treating it as my own.

What are road blocks in your own life that take away from pursuing more of the Kingdom of Heaven? What area has the Holy Spirit highlighted in your life for taking you deeper and bringing you freedom? I want to invite you to partner with me in creating changes to enable what Jesus wants to do in your heart so that His roots can go deeper and new growth can take place.

SIMPLE SALAD

This salad is so easy to make and is a frequent go to for me. There is lots you can add or even take away from this meal depending on what you like and if you eat meat etc.

Ingredients:

Makes enough for 2 salads

-1 1/2 Cups Spinach

-3/4 Pound of Chicken

-1 Russet Potato (cubed)

-2 Sweet Potatoes (cubed)

-Shredded Parmesan

-1/2 Cup of Pumpkin Seeds

-Light drizzle of Balsamic

-1/2 Lemon

-1 Clove of Garlic

-Olive Oil

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 400

-In a large baggie marinate the chicken in 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 lemon, 1 clove of garlic, salt and pepper (the longer the chicken marinates the more flavor it will have...for this recipe I just let my chicken sit while I cut the potatoes)

-Once Potatoes have been cut place on pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper then bake for 25-30 mins

-In a small skillet drizzle 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and add the pumpkin seeds along with salt and pepper. Cook them on medium heat for about 5-7 mins or until golden

-Cooking the chicken: You can either grill it or you can use a cast iron skillet and sear the chicken on each side for about 3 mins on medium heat and then place in the oven until cooked all the way through (for this particular recipe I grilled the chicken but it tastes great either way).

-Place the spinach in a bowl or on a plate, add the desired amount of cooked potatoes, cut the chicken and place desired amount on the salad, top with pumpkin seeds, shredded parmesan, and balsamic. Enjoy!