BAD PURCHASES

 

We´ve gone hiking as a family quite often this summer and I could have needed new hiking boots.

But it´s so hard for me to find the right shoes!

In the store I think they fit. I even walk around for 20 minutes to test them before I buy them.

But at home, when I try them on in peace again, I´m not that sure anymore…

My daughter is totally different here. Because we have the same size, I ask her to try the new hiking boots for me.

She recognizes at once if the little toe is squeezed or the heel is slipping…

I wonder, put them on again… Really! She´s right!

I returned the shoes twice.

Then I didn´t dare to go shopping without my daughter again.

 

It was embarrassing.

I didn´t want to tell anybody that I returned new shoes that often and that I am apparently not able to make the right decision.

I even tried to hide the shoe-box in the garage.

But my family got it anyway…

Although they did laugh at me, they didn´t hurt my feelings. I could join them in the laughing and that felt good!

That´s how I am, although it is silly. And they love me anyway!

That was a good feeling.

 

In the evening we watched a movie together: “All three of us” – a really good movie.

I´ve seen the film before but this time something different touched me:

The brother of the protagonist. He is steeling the clothes of other people obsessively but otherwise a totally nice guy.

His tic is quite annoying but his family loves him anyway.

They wonder and also scold him for it but it is clear that he belongs and that his family is supporting him.

They laugh about him but they would do anything for him.

I identified with that crazy man and it touched my heart.

I am loved no matter how crazy I am!

 

Yesterday I listened to a podcast on youtube from two sisters who give inputs about minimalism (“The Minimal Mom”).

They talked about decluttering and shame and forgiveness.

We feel ashamed because we spent too much money and have too many things in our house.

And that is one of the reasons why we keep all those things we actually don´t need anyway:

because we don´t want to deal with that shame.

“I made a mistake but maybe I could use it someday anyway.”

We hope that the mistake was no real mistake after all!

Sometimes we force ourselves to use those bad purchases although it doesn´t feel right and we punish ourselves twice.

The item is giving us a bad conscious until we finally do part with it.

 

Their tip: We need to learn to forgive ourselves!

We can even talk it out loud:

“I´ve messed up but I can forgive myself.”

And then we give it away.

How often should we forgive? What if we make the same mistake over and over again?

That does happen occasionally, doesn´t it, that we do make the wrong decision?! (and not only when shopping…)

 

Matthew 18, 21-22:

„At that point Peter got up the nerve to aks, „Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”

(Peter is quite generous here: the rabbis taught to forgive three times. But because Peter knows how generous Jesus is, he thinks seven is better.)

Jesus replied, „Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.“ 

 

We should forgive again and again and be gracious! More often than we could count or keep track of.

Also ourselves!

That way we don´t stay trapped in the past but can walk freely into the future.

 

Jesus paid for it all. He also forgives us those little mistakes!

The bad purchases and bad decisions and our tics.

We can face it:

Getting the stuff out of the dark closets and letting the shopping bag stay out in the open.

We do make mistakes.

Let us bring them to the light and let Jesus do the healing and working in our hearts!

His forgiveness does good and gives hope for the future!

 

“Forgiveness means giving up the hope that the past could be any different.” Oprah