Jewels, Wine and Some Crab Cakes...

Charity functions are a new thing to me. So new, I went to my first one tonight. We have prayerfully decided to give a small amount each year to a relatively new foundation for pediatric traumas at Baptist/Brenners in Winston Salem. Great cause, one dear to our hearts. But I suppose even the most minute givers get invited to the swanky shindigs, so we went. More or less to just check it out and see what was involved in this whole "charity" thing. It was a lot of fun, great people involved - it's a wonderful foundation to be a part of. So we go to a beautiful jewelry store not too far from our home and walk into a huge room full of all things sparkly, shiny and expensive. Very expensive. Our biggest concern of the evening to this point was what to wear (or what NOT to wear, like the TV show!), until we walk in the doors. Oh my. The people. The pretty, shiny, happy people(wasn't that a song a while back?) Or at least they seemed happy...ya never know a person's heart. They all had shiny things on to wear. And shiny shoes. And shiny purses. They were ALL buying shiny new dangly things, while sipping wine, munching on crab cakes and eating, you guessed it, cheese. (Or did you guess it??) We kept seeing the same poor waiter hocking his wares (his wares consisted of shrimp cocktail, steak on little pieces of bread and, of course, crab cakes). Some folks in there looked as out of place as we did (or at least we felt like we did!) and my husband reminded me several times that he was the only man there, other than the owner (why do I care, this is HIS shin dig!). Surveying the crowd a little closer revealed a lot of overly made up women that were spending a LOT of money...on jewelry. Something to make them prettier, something to make them stand out, to shine a little more.

Sometimes when I see things online, in a store, or even see something nice that someone is wearing, I think, wow, that's nice, I'd like to have that. Or when I see a new Jetta (my newest hang up) going down the highway, I think, I wish I had the mulah for that one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not THAT superficial that I feel like I am entitled or HAVE to have these things, but sometimes I think, wouldn't it be nice?? I saw a lot of pretty people tonight, wearing pretty clothes, pretty things. But I realized something. I don't need all of that. The jewelry...the purses...the shoes. Yep, I've known this for quite some time, but occasionally it takes going to an event such as this to help bring me back to this reality. I am good at shrugging things off when I one of those desires...often when I get one of those hankerings for worldly things the Holy Spirit quickly reminds me that I am who God created me to be. Maybe not living up to His standards the way He would like, but I am trying. And I know for certain that a lack of jewelry, purses, shoes, hair, make up, clothes or what-have-you will not make Him any happier. I am and I have all I need in Christ. I am complete in Him, even when sometimes my human mind thinks otherwise (human nature, right??) There is a song that I love (you may be listening to it now) called How He Loves. One of the verses goes like this..."He is our Portion and we are His prize". Jesus is my portion...He was given for me, what more could I possibly need???? I love that...we are His prize!! I am His prize, how humbling, why would He want a girl all caught up in the things of this world, putting the world ahead of Him?? He doesn't need prizes caught up in the superficial...He wants prizes wholly immersed and loving Him! I'd say (based on scripture and some basic common sense) that He is most happy when I am centered on Him, living a life that makes others say, "what does she have that I'm missing??", and spending my days in worship of Him (yes, when you are centered on Him and becoming Christ like, your LIFE turns into your worship!) I think that the rest is just jewelry, wine and crab cakes...

Yes, I did enjoy the evening. The folks were actually very friendly, didn't try the nourishment they provided, and the people watching was fascinating. Overall, it was a fun time...a time reminding me that this world has some great things to offer...but what the world has to offer is nothing in comparison to my Jesus!