Five Second Rule

Inspired by 7: an experimental mutiny against excess by Jen Hatmaker, I have really started paying attention to the wastefulness of our culture!

I have been kinna irritated about it for a bit, but it hasnt really been something I really paid much attention to until reading about JH's fast from wastefulness. Her focus is more about waste as it relates to the earth, and she refers more to the amounts of trash we accumulate in our society. Her book opened my eyes to that for sure, and then it bumped up my "kinna irritated" about other kinds of wastefulness to "rather frustrated" about it.

We are a seriously wasteful nation.

Take our ever-popular "5 second rule". Every normal mom has this rule. Its the one that says that if your kid drops something on the floor, as long as you pick it up in '5 seconds or less' its still okay. This, by societal law relieves any mother from guilt for feeding her kids food off the floor.

Being 'real' myself, I admit to using this rule quite often  (while I call mine the '5 second rule' its more like ...well, longer than that).  Its a good rule.  But ...then again, the need for it kinna reflects the state of mind of our culture. It is a great representation of how we are so inclined to throw away, do away with, get rid of anything that has been tainted or otherwise is less than perfect and pristine.

I know some of you germaphobs may scoff at my example since it relates to food, but go with me for a bit. In a world that food is growing more and more scarce, we Americans are so quick to amass large quantities of it and then throw it away without a second thought for any number of reasons. I regularly throw away overripe fruit and veggies, leftovers, etc. We are so blessed that we dont think twice about letting our leftovers go bad, while so many go hungry right down our street.

What about clothing? We have so much that there is not a one of us who can't admit to struggling the upkeep of laundry. Its a whole job that requires management of its own. We have to write laundry on our to-do lists and "clean out the kids summer clothes" on our spring cleaning lists. We have so much that we have rotate clothes, store bins and bins of outgrown clothes in the attic, and put stuff way for when we can 'fit into it again.'   Meanwhile, there are people all around us who don't have more than the clothes on their backs, literally.

I threw away a pair of Crocs this week when my 5-year old showed me a hole had worn through the bottom of one of them.

Then, I saw this picture on a blog..

These little piggies belong to a child in Ethiopia.

How wasteful are we?

Not that we should make our children to walk around with their shoes disintegrating around their little toes. I am not suggesting that we should. But I think we need to me more attentive to those things that we are simply unnecessarily wasteful about. What could we reuse, recycle, give to those who need it or otherwise get them from being stored away for our future use instead of shared?

I have held on to a stack of jeans that I fit in only briefly before getting pregnant with baby #3. I just couldnt give them away, they were in great condition and surely someday I would fit into them again. How selfish I have been - so wasteful of the resources I have when there are those so close to me who could use them.

They are the to-go pile as we speak. Now, to find someone who can use them all. I can't wait.

I am asking myself this question right now ...what am I hoarding that God could use to bless others? What resources do I waste simply because of my abundance?

I don't think we should writhe in guilt over such things, but rather be moved to an acute attentiveness to what God may have given us our abundance for. This helps us become more Christ-like, guilt creates a barrier to that.

I just can't keep from thinking ..." You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 2 Cor 9:11 ...oh I hope so! Don't you?!

I am working on becoming less wasteful of what I have ...be it food, clothing, money, time, possessions, plastic or shoes.  It's not going to be easy, because being wasteful is a part of my makeup. But I think it will be worth it.

It keeps coming back to 'having everything you need, you may abound in every good work'. I don't want some of that everything to be put away in an attic somewhere not being shared with those who it was meant for to start with.

{Sigh.}. Man, when the Spirit starts moving in a gal He can cause call kinds of ruckus!