Most of you have probably heard the old expression, "enough is enough already!". Usually, that line is used in reference to some type of behavior. That is not the type of 'enough' I'm talking about today. Rather, I'm questioning at what point is 'enough' reached, when accumulating different types of 'stuff'. Here are some examples:
How many stuffed animals must a child own, for the amount of them to qualify as 'enough'? And, do they need an increased number of them, or a decreased number of them the older they get, to still qualify as 'enough'?
If a person owns enough clothing that they can wear a completely different outfit* every day for an entire month, no matter what season it is, does that then qualify them as having 'enough' clothing? Or should it be enough for two months? And by completely different outfit*, I am not referring to mixing and matching tops and bottoms to come up with a different outfit. I mean totally different outfits.
Along those same lines, how many pairs of shoes does it take to qualify as 'enough'? What about pieces of jewelery? Or hand bags? Or coats? Or..... ?
How many collectibles / nick knacks / do-dad's does it take, for it to be 'enough'? And, at what point does it go from being 'enough', to being, well, to put it bluntly, ridiculous? Is that latter point reached when you walk into a home and yet you begin to wonder if perhaps it's actually a shop? Or does the point of 'enough' come yet further down the road?
Some people stock pile groceries. How many bags of different types of snack chips does it take to qualify as 'enough'? [Notice I didn't ask about bags of chocolate chips o;-p]
How many pads of paper, markers, pens, pencils, notebooks, etc. does it take to have 'enough' or be well-stocked for a school year?
I could go on and on with my 'for instances-es', but I'm sure you've caught on to what I'm referring to.
And for the record, NO, I am not at all referring to 'hoarders', such as you see on the so called cable TV show, or even often on 'Pickers', for that matter. I'm just talking about "normal people" (whom ever in the heck they are ;-p).
The real irony with this whole subject, is that the amount of 'enough' is such an individually decided point. The irony is then topped off by the fact, that often the people around you have a totally different perspective of where your 'enough' point should be / or should have been.
Another for the record - or should that be 'disclaimer' ? o;-) Yes, I have been pondering this here subject due to going through 'stuff' in our own house. But I am not writing this to try to make a point to anybody in my house, or any other such thing. Rather, that pondering has been topped off by a lot of other peoples 'enough's' - especially as talked about by people other than themselves. Does that make sense?
But I'm curious, at what point do you think 'enough' of something has been obtained? This 'inquiring mind' would like to know ;-)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
6 comments:
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I have enough clothes to wear a completely different outfit everyday of the month... And I say its still not enough ;-)
ReplyDeletecame via email:
ReplyDelete"OK. Been mulling this over. I'll give it a try:
First, the disclaimer . . . this is something we can only determine for ourselves. We cannot make this judgment for other people. And I do firmly believe that it is different for every person and maybe for every season of life!
But how do we determine what is "enough" for ourselves? Personally I put it in terms of service. If what I want to acquire is something God and I can use to be of service to others or is something God can use in my life to draw me closer to Him, then it is a good thing. If the acquisition of that thing/those things is becoming a matter of pride or self-gratification, then you have probably passed over the limit of "enough".
This might seem too narrow to some at first glance. But I think that may be due to how narrowly we view service. God tells us that "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). So my dress, my home, my food, my reading, my entertainment, my yard, WHATEVER I have and do can be used to glorify God as I live out His design for me, serving my family and my community, learning to think and reflect His truth, and expressing His creativity and beauty.
I like to think of Adam and Eve being placed in the garden to tend it. Right from the start, God gave them a little plot of land and charged them with the responsibility of "keeping" it, creatively enhancing the beauty of His creation, establishing a place of comfort and beauty for their family from which they could minister to one another and be in relationship with God.
Every acquisition can be looked at in this light. Is this something that God would want me to have in order to enhance my relationship with Him or in order to help me serve my family, my neighbors, my church family, or the lost in this world? Or if I keep this thing or acquire this new thing, am I being distracted from God? Am I kept so busy maintaining this thing that I don't have time to minister to others? Am I more concerned with having the praise of others and comparing myself with them? Is the acquisition of this going to drain my finances to the point that I cannot take care of my family and give generously as God would have me do?
Well, I've rambled on enough. Hopefully I have adequately expressed my thoughts. I'm sure I have not exhausted the topic. I know I've brought conviction back upon myself! It's a constantly changing, must-be-reevaluated issue. I do believe though that the bigger issue to God is where our heart is. Are we turning our hearts to God, looking to please Him and serve Him more each day? Keeping our eyes on Him and not the stuff of this world will help us keep it all in perspective.
Elizabeth
The reply I sent to her:
"VERY. WELL. PUT. Elizabeth!!! :-D !!! Even though you did cross the line from just commenting to convicting me. Oh that's right, your husband was a preacher - they are darn good at moving from preaching to 'meddling' o;-p
But seriously - I LOVED your reply!!!!!!!!!
miss you!
Cheryl B."
Elizabeth also sent this via email - "Just came across this quote in my work.
ReplyDelete“Whatever we have of this world in our hands, our care must be to keep it out of our hearts, lest it come between us and Christ” (Matthew Henry)."
from 'my' Kate via email - "I love this. :) So challenging and yet so encouraging too!"
ReplyDelete'my' Kate had sent this via email in response to the original posting - "I know there's "enough" clutter in my room when I am MORE stressed walking in than when I'm walking out. :) That's when I tackle the stuff...ie maybe quite possibly in fact very probably that might be happening this weekend. 0:)
ReplyDeleteI also know there is never "enough" chocolate in your diet! :)"
Jill Roed. had sent this reply to the original posting via email - "HHmmmm.....Well, enough is enough to me when you have what you "need" and not what you "want". I guess that's my answer for now! LOL"
ReplyDelete