distracted.

Posted by on November 1, 2010 in Life | 3 comments

*disclaimer – this post is not intended to bring guilt, etc, this is just me writing out MY thoughts for myself!!*

I think a lot of times in our society we get sooooo caught up in consumer-ism, and I am the first to admit that this is HARD for me. I absolutely love fashion, shopping, purses, etc…I love stuff. Great. Lately I have found myself saying I need to scale back on my shopping (ok, I make it sound like I shop daily and spend thousands of dollars every time…this is not the case at all…hahaha!). Honestly, the other day I was thinking of challenging myself to no shopping in the month of November and I thought “awesome idea I just need to get this and this and this and this before I put myself on a spending freeze.” Ummm….really? Yeah, that’s a logical thought to have, Leah – buy a bunch of stuff to get you through a month of not buying things.

So, as I was flipping through old photos on Facebook and reading old journals, it was making me realize how THANKFUL I am for so much…and I don’t mean for stuff (a.k.a. junk)…I mean the good stuff: my relationship with Jesus, my husband and family, the opportunities I have been blessed with in my life…and I have been really convicted the past few months with my obsession with things that are really just not worth my time or thoughts. (I am getting nervous for what I am about to write because I am making this decision publicly without a lot of thought….:))

This post is super scattered and I am trying to reel it in here. Last week in small group we were talked about what steals our affections from the Lord and what stirs them. I had a really hard time figuring out what stirs my affections and that really bothered me. Why do I allow myself to get so consumed with Internet, TV, shopping, and other useless tasks, and I can’t identify 1 thing that stirs my affection for the One who rescued me? Over the past week it has hit me hard that shopping and fashion definitely steal my affection from the Lord…and it’s time to do something about that.

I am challenging myself to a month spending freeze on clothing and “stuff”. My mind is consumed with what to buy next, I am distracted, I am wasteful and I am obsessed. My prayer is that I will seek the Lord during this month and really re-prioritize where my thoughts wander to.

I know this seems really silly to a lot of people and you are probably thinking I am some crazy obsessed shop-a-holic, but I challenge you to look at your life and figure out what is stealing your affections and challenge yourself to do something about it…see what God does…He’s a lot bigger than we are.

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  • Sarah

    I’m doing almost the same thing! Check out my More With Less posts on my blog: http://www.drinkitin.blogspot.com

  • http://www.lovingdangerously.com/ Leah

    Sarah – I love that!! Can’t wait to keep watching your updates!!!

  • http://www.carlagatesphotography.com Carla

    I love this post Leah! Good for you! So funny, I was just talking with a friend about this yesterday. I think it is absolutely true that we so often get caught up in our affections for the world and forget the one who CREATED and everything in it the world and lovingly warns us not to be in love with the world because it’s all going to be gone one day. Love your idea…I think fasts in any area where we struggle with putting something before God -food, tv, facebook, shopping, people, work, etc are so very important and even more important is doing what you just did and being real with ourselves before the Lord about which one we personally struggle with. I recently have had to establish firmer work boundaries with myself because that was taking so much of my time and attention away from him! Anyway, I always love your posts, thank you for challenging us ;)