DONT send money

this song from Rich Dittus, "Simple Song" has been going through my head for a while this week. i stumbled across this song on a SHINE retreat my Junior year of high school. (SHINE stands for Serving Him In the Needy and Elderly and at the end of this blog you can catch a link to Rich Dittus' blog to listen to the song and read the lyrics)

Living simply is something that i feel like i understand and at the same time struggle with daily. I chose this. I chose a minimal paycheck, so i can focus on my ministry. I chose it. And i need to remember that i have chosen this poverty-- just like the sisters i live with.

but then i think about how it is not quite the middle of the month, and i have approximately 10 dollars left before my stipend for this month runs out. and how i am going to need deodorant pretty soon. it makes me think about where my money went--how much did i need, did i spend the money wisely? will what i spent my money on help me to minister better to the students of ICA?


and maybe it's not ALL about ministry-- the bottle of wine isn't. the postage for the letters isn't. but the dress pants, and especially the deodorant. ... well yea i think they do.

and i think about the time i've spent too. Was my time spent wisely? will my time spent help me minister better? I mean clearly service is about finding the balance, and realizing that we don't need a lot of what we thought we did. I know myself personally I could get rid of probably half my clothes that I haven't even worn yet. But having the selection is always nice. waking up and getting to choose between my black pants or khakis, between my blue or brown shoes.

So, Mom and Dad, I know you might be tempted to send money. You may want to come in, and sneak a 50 into my checking account when i am not looking. but i think, although i want some new Rainbow sandals (or to fix my chaco's) i need deodorant. and so that is what my money will be spent on. I think this weekend I will spend my time thinning out my closet and my 'stuff.' and maybe even bringing some of it down to the buy-trade-sell clothing shop on Valencia. Or donating the rest of it to salvation army.

completely unrelated, but a shameless plug. Some of the students at ICA were asking me about my Wisconsin accent. When i need my fix of Wisconsin accent,as well as a side of Jesus, i listen to my friend Fr. Dan Schuester, who podcasts his sermons for all to hear.

ps, i have some really good cheap christmas ideas i would share with anyone needing some :)

http://salvationvehicle.blogspot.com/ for heart of Wisconsin, and Heart of the Gospel

http://richdittus.com/?page_id=11 and find Simple Song to hear the song that started my pondering.