Losing Your Marbles & Stuff

I regard golf as an expensive way of playing marbles.  G.K. Chesterton

Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy God ever granted humanity. Chuck Swindoll

I think I am easily amused or maybe I am just not awake yet.  Otherwise, why would I find this so funny?    

We have a break room in our office and there is a bulletin board on the wall where you can post discount passes to events, menus and things you are selling.  There is a sheet posted on the bulletin board that has been there for months.  It is a blank sheet of paper with two push pins on it that are holding missing items that someone in the office found.  One is an earring and the other is a piece of a bracelet.  I went into the kitchen this morning and I noticed there was something written on the piece of paper and what looked like a drawing of some sort.  I decided to check it out.  Someone had drawn five round circles with an arrow pointing to it and next to it they wrote “Marbles, Yes these are mine!” I laughed out loud.  Some days I feel just like that. 

Here is another totally unrelated story.  Last night my husband and I were watching one of those shows about “Unusual Homes”.  There is a guy in California who purchased an Airstream motorhome and converted it into his home.  The Airstream is 30 feet long and has high-end fixtures and even a claw-foot tub and full size bathroom.  It even has a skylight.  The thing that struck me was the comment he made about his home.  He said, “I no longer ask myself can I afford it, but can I store it?” 

I thought that statement was priceless. Raise your hand if you have so much stuff that you don’t have a place to put it.  Both of my hands went up.  We have so much stuff that we have to rent space to store it.  God never intended for us to accumulate so much stuff that we don’t have a place to put it.  I think we would probably laugh more and be more joyful if we got rid of the stuff that crowds our thoughts and takes up space. 

The moral of this story.  If you feel like you are losing your marbles, you are not alone.  Lighten your load of stuff and you just may find you have more time to spend with God and less time trying to remember where you put it.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I think You gave us laughter to lift our hearts.  I was driving this morning and I was tired and discouraged.  When I walked into the kitchen and saw that silly note I laughed out loud.  It was such a silly thing but it brought me joy.  Thank you for giving me the gift of laughter and help me to get rid of my excess stuff to make more room for time with You.

Scripture:   Parable of the Rich Fool

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”  But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?”  And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.  And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’  So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’  But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’  “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”