Dealing with “Stuff”

Posted by Jane | 0 comments

I’m overwhelmed with stuff.

Tubs full of craft supplies.  Art supplies.  Games.  Learning toys.  Boxes of books.  Children’s books.  Homeschooling books.  Educational resources for years to come.

It wasn’t always this way.  A couple of years ago, when we lived in Mozambique, all that craft stuff fit in one cupboard.  Trash was assessed for its educational potential before we let it out the door.  It was an exciting challenge to come up with letter-of-the-week activities using the supplies on hand.

Back to the present here in Oregon.  I’ve been making up for lost time, for all those conveniences I learned to not take for granted.  Our library basket holds somewhere between 50-100 books at all times.  While I don’t see myself as a big spender, I have a hard time passing up great thrift store deals on craft supplies and educational materials.  When we move on to a new study theme, it’s off to the store to get exactly what I need – because I can!

“Will my stuffed animals go to heaven with me?” my four-year-old asks.  I answer in the negative.  “What if I hold onto them really tight?” she wonders.

“The Bible says we mustn’t store our treasures on earth,” I explain to her.  “God has something much bigger and better planned for us than all this stuff.”

She starts to negotiate.  “OK, I’ll only take Gabe, my horse.  I’ll just keep him with me all the time so he doesn’t get left behind.”

“You’ve been blessed with lots of toys to enjoy right now,” I tell her.  “But really, wouldn’t it be nice to share some of those blessings with other kids?”

“But I love my toys!” she wails.

And I think I’m not so very different.

We’re doing some trash-to-treasure projects in honor of Earth Day right now.  (Yep – I’ve got a tub full of empty containers and paper towel rolls and such stuff in my collection of stuff.)  But I know it’s not going to change the world – it’ll get dumped in the trash after we’ve enjoyed it, in any event.

To change the world, I’ve got to change my attitude about my toys. My stuff.  And pray it rubs off on my daughter.

On a practical level, I’m challenging myself with an acquisition moratorium.  When I’m looking for fresh activity ideas, my first stop will be my own store of stuff, rather than the internet with its endless activity supply lists.

More importantly, I want to put our family purpose statement into practice:  Live generously. Time, money, toys, stuff – blessings are meant to be shared.

When she’s not battling too-sticky play dough and untangling herself from the hot-glue webs surrounding her too-cute felt ladybugs, Jane contemplates how to instill in her four-year-old daughter a heart to change the world for Jesus. Her family has circled the globe and landed in rural Oregon where the grass is green and the sky is blue, though not usually at the same time. Their eclectic homeschool adventures are chronicled at Mozi Esmé.