Broken.......

Broken - it is. I bought this night light for my daughters room at the dollar section of Target. Don't laugh - I bought it over a year ago. It probably would still be illuminating the night for them if my oldest hadn't gotten the brillant idea to change it out with a newer one she recieved from a neighbor that was doing spring cleaning. She dropped it on the floor and it shattered (hence the picture). : ) I started thinking about all the "discounted" items I buy. I love Target, Kohls, OLD NAVY, Outlet Malls, etc. With two lil girls I have learned the lesson of short lived purchases. A brand new outfit stained on the first wear, a toy defunct after the first playdate with a friend, a book whose cover didn't survive the trip to the beach, dress shoes that were accidently worn outside during recess..... I try to think about splurging at Marshall Fields, Barneys, Anne Klien, even Baby Gap - but it seems futile when what I get at my favorite stores are used, and if discard due to use - no big monetary loss? Is that a bad thing? Is it a bad thing that my Flip Flops cost $3.50 at Old Navy and not $350.00 from Barneys (I just priced a pair)? My daughters Easter dress were $14.99 and $19.99 from Target, not $49.99 at Marshall Fields (clearance rack....)? I sometimes (especially living in Chicago) feel like we are plain, brown paper bag, ordinary people living in a very glittery society. There are times I want to run and cover up my daughter's "old navy" tag that is sticking out of her shirt - or throw away the "target" bag that I carry my lunch to work in. (Sad - I know - but those plastic bags make GREAT lunch bags)
I was journaling about this today and this bible passage jumped into my head that I LOVE - and hear often in one of the girls FAVORITE songs. In the message translation you lose the song lyrics - but the song is "I'm trading my sorrows..." My girls LOVE that song and sing it loudly when it is playing on their CD player.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 7 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. 8 As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, 9 but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. 10What they did to Jesus, they do to us--trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us--he lives!

I know everyone has their own translation they feel more comfortable with and if you would like to see a different translation go to BibleGateway.Com

I think I will take the plain brown paper bag look.... I hear it is in this season....