I biked through the exclusive Biltmore Forrest neighborhood this morning - huge, stately houses tucked away from reality and guarded by a deep covering of tall pines and maples. It was early enough that most of the mansions were still dark and quiet, their inhabitants not yet stirring. I was thinking that most of those homes are filled with lots of nice stuff - if the cars in the driveways were any indication. And I wondered if the folks who owned those homes, cars, and nice stuff were truly happy.
I have far less stuff than I once had.....I came home last week to a house that had been emptied (post yard sale) of its furniture, wall hangings, rugs, and pretty much anything else that I thought once made a house a home. With much of the "stuff" that we had accumulated over the years now gone on to new homes, I was left with my bed, the TV, a couple of couches, and my clothes. So I've got this 4,000 square foot shell of a home and I'm thinking about what's really important in life. We spend our lives accumulating stuff, and we always want more stuff. And it seems that we were happiest when we didn't have lots of stuff. Often we are so enamored with the stuff we have or the stuff we desire that it interferes with our relationship and our pursuit of God.
I spend 50% of my evenings now in a much smaller (1100 square foot) house, with far less "stuff". My wonderful friends, Rodney and Mary Sexton, have so graciously taken me in and adopted me as their own - and I've never been happier. You see, their house is a home. It's filled with love, acceptance, understanding, gratitude, and joy. I know that I'm always welcome there, 24/7 as Mary reminds me. On most Wednesday evenings throughout the school year, the Sexton's home is pretty much standing room only overflowing with folks from the community attending the Bible Study they host. People feel comfortable in Rodney and Mary's humble abode. They feel accepted and loved, unconditionally. It may not be the biggest place, it may not have the nicest furniture, it certainly isn't filled with lots of expensive possessions, and you'll never find a Mercedes or a BMW parked out front - but it's a place friends call home. Rodney and Mary are simple folks who love the Lord and live out His call to love others - not just with their thoughts or words, but with their deeds. They get it and they live it, and I love them for it.
Maybe it's unfair to suggest that the folks who live in those ginormous Biltmore Forrest homes that I cycled by this morning care more about how their lawns look than the plight of the homeless in downtown Asheville. Maybe it's unfair to suggest that with bigger homes, more stuff, and nicer cars come more issues and more complicated - perhaps less joyful - lives. But I've seen it and lived it. And I'm witnessing a far simpler, more joyful life....and I'm remembering the example of a simple, joy-filled, unconditionally loving and hugely impactful carpenter who walked this earth over 2000 years ago. And if memory serves me correctly, he didn't have much in the way of '"stuff".
"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little" - Phil. 4:11
loved this....really loved it. Triple C
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