Throw Pillows. Not Being Able to Buy Clothes.

Here’s what I love: throw pillows.

Bill and I have had the couch and chair we bought the first year of our marriage for all 11.5 years! But, we’ve had three or four different sets of throw pillows throughout that time. Throw pillows can completely change the look of the furniture. I love that I can feel like I have an all new room just by getting new throw pillows. I like to set the pillows just right on the couch. I love it when my humble living room looks set for a photo shoot or something.

My family does not appreciate throw pillows—at least, not as decoration. My darling husband appreciates throw pillows enough to USE them—I mean, he bends them to prop his head up, or he puts one on the coffee table to cushion his feet! Can you imagine!? My girls appreciate them as building blocks for their couch cushion forts. Because of this, I often have to “re-set” my living room to my liking. Whenever I walk through, I have to re-adjust pillows into their places or bend-over and pick the throw pillows up off the floor. It’s a small task, but a consistent chore for me.

So, why have throw pillows? I mean, I could just get rid of them and I wouldn’t have to straighten anything! True. But there are other chores that are on-going—dishes, laundry, dusting, even bathing. You wouldn’t advise me to stop those tasks, would you? Maybe throw-pillows are just for aesthetics, so they really aren’t necessary like some of the other items I listed. Many people don’t like to make their beds stating the fact that they are just going to get in them again that night. But, since throw pillows (placed correctly) and bed-making for that matter, are important to me, the thing that will keep these tasks (or any job for that matter) from being a burden is my own attitude. Philippians 2:14 tells me to do all things without grumbling/complaining or disputing/arguing. That’s easy, huh? (Yeah, right!)

Actually, that verse is meant to help me. We think it’s meant to help protect others (from our grumbling) or to make us good witnesses—act more like Christ. And while, those can be results of obeying that verse, I think that it can help us deep down as well. If I can somehow find joy in picking up throw-pillows and adjusting them (instead of cursing my careless family for actually using these items), then the task stops being a burden. Every task has a flip side. I know someone who has lost a child. Wouldn’t she bend over and pick up throw pillows a thousand and one times if it meant that her daughter was alive throwing them off the couch? So, now, whenever I walk through the living room and have to adjust throw-pillows, I thank the Lord for my daughters—for their health and happiness. I praise the Lord for my husband who is alive and home often. Now, that chore isn’t a chore at all. It’s an opportunity and a reminder to thank the Lord. And while this simple act of “not complaining or grumbling” certainly protects my family, it also grows true joy in my heart.

Here’s what I hate: not being able to buy clothes.

Long story short, I read the book Radical by David Platt. (It’s quite depressing, convicting, and inspiring all at once. I don’t recommend it if you’d rather not have your life changed.) Anyway, at the end of the book, the author offers up a challenge: to live radically for one year. What does that mean? Well, by the author’s definition, it is to commit to doing the five things listed below for the next year:

1. Pray for the entire world

2. Read through the entire Word

3. Commit my life to multiplying community

4. Sacrifice my money for a specific purpose

5. Give my time for another context

I’m sure I’ll end up blogging about other aspects of this challenge. (I have written briefly about praying for the world.) But, today I am trying to explain why I’ve decided not to buy clothes. Really, it’s serving as a reminder. We are already giving to ministries and missionaries and we are tithing at church. But, even budgeting to give in these ways, I’d probably have the money from time to time to buy a cute shirt at Target or get “those” boots ‘cause they are on sale. (Even when I don’t technically have the money, I’ve succumbed to the temptation of retail therapy when I’ve had bad day.)

But, in discussing this “radical experiment” with my good friend, we both realized that not buying clothes would be a good start to living sacrificially. In all honesty, it probably isn’t that big a sacrifice—the sacrifice would be felt more acutely, I suppose, if I gave away half the clothes in my closet. Because, as it is, I won’t really be suffering not buying myself clothes for a year. I’m actually not a big shopper in general. I don’t buy clothing for myself that often and I don’t spend huge amounts when I do buy clothes. BUT, there are times throughout each year that I buy myself articles of clothing for no particular reason. There is nothing wrong with that. My choice to sacrifice clothing purchases is because I knew that it is something that I would desire to do throughout the year.

Because I knew I’d have the urge to buy clothes for no apparent reason, I knew that every time I felt that urge, I would be reminded of…. Of what??? I would be reminded of the fact that the world is much bigger than my own little life. Reminded that there are people out there who wear the exact same thing every day. Reminded that I can spend time praying for orphans, for homeless, for people without hope. Reminded that I have been given much and I should be sharing with those in need. As it turns out, committing to not buy clothes for a year is already serving its purpose. I immediately began hating everything in my closet and I have already lusted over the outfit on the front of the Talbots catalog. And in those times, I am reminded to strive to live radically and give my life away. I can tell that the Lord is using this decision already, but that there is so much more to come. I know that I will learn a lot in the next year. But it’s not going to be easy, I’ll tell you that much!