Day 4: Confessions of a Shopaholic, Part 1

So I have a little secret to confess: I used to be a shopaholic.

I used to spend hours and hours per week bargain shopping, splurging on unnecessary items, and shopping endless hours at the mall and target. I don't think there is anything wrong with owning items, beautiful things, or spending money on clothing. However, I do think its important to spend wisely, buy within your means, and not own excessive amounts of things. I've worn the same size for about the past 10 years; crazy, I know. So as a result, more often than not, its easy for my clothes to pile up in my closet as more things come in than go out. There was a point in my life was I became a slave to the culture of needing to owning every new item and follow every new fad and trend. It was extremely addicting and equally hard to break.

my shoe collection

However over time and with the help of some supportive friends, I was able to realize how truly blessed I am. And through the acknowledgement of blessing, it provided me with the ability to bless others. While, the desire to buy excessively is gone, its still a battle to give things away freely. But its a lesson I work at daily.

I wrote about leaving coins on a redbox machine a few days ago. My heart behind doing that was because there was often a homeless lady who sat on a milk crate and the image of her face stays with me; always. I stopped by redbox yesterday in order to return a dvd, and found her sitting on the crate like usual. The weather here is finally acting like fall/winter, so the air was cold and crisp, and I could see her shivering. I dug through my purse and handed her the little change I could find. But then I felt like God was tucking on my heart to do more, so I did. I took off my sweater and handed it to her.

While I love the sweater I gave her, she needed it more than me. I wanted to keep it, she needed to own it.

xoxo,