The Intentional Home, Week Seven: Wednesday

For an Introduction and Table of Contents for The Intentional Home, click Here.

Week Seven: Wednesday

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17

I really like to get rid of clutter, but I also like a good bargain especially thrift stores and garage sales. This can put me on a bad cycle of accumulating and then purging. I want to challenge you as well as myself to consider carefully what we bring into our home.

When things cost only pennies like at a garage sale they can be so tempting to purchase, but they will still take up space in your home and require cleaning and storing. So, even if it is on a $.25 item, it’s good to really evaluate the need before you buy it. Be careful taking kids to garage sales. Haley and I got in the habit of Saturday morning garage sale shopping together and it was fun. But, so many nice people just gave Haley toys and we ended up with a lot of toys that we didn’t need.

I’ve found a new method that is actually working well when shopping retail to avoid the impulse purchase. When I see something that I really like, instead of buying it, I take a picture of the item and the price tag. If in a week or two, I even remember that I liked that rug, for example, I can look at the picture and decide if it would be a wise purchase. I can say every time that I’ve done this I haven’t regretted leaving it on the shelf one bit.

Some people have a “one in, one out” rule that can really make you think before you buy. Regardless, I just want you and me to be more intentional about what you are bringing in.