ACE #117: A Box of Baking Soda and a Bottle of Ketchup

When I was in graduate school, I went to visit my cousin, Crystal, in Atlanta.  She loved to barbecue chicken wings and to cook her signature baked beans.  On one of those days, she said we were going to visit her friend, Phylicia, to take her a plate of food. I noticed that she also had a small bag of random groceries.  I gave it very little thought.

As we walked up to the doorway, Crystal pointed out Phylicia’s shiny, black BMW.  We knocked on the door and Phylicia answered it promptly.  When we stepped into the living room, the house was dark.  I thought it was rather odd.  We sat there talking while Phylicia ate the plate of barbecue.  She asked me to put the rest of the groceries in the refrigerator.  I opened it up and I was a bit stunned.  There was a box of baking soda and a bottle of tomato ketchup.  It suddenly clicked.  This woman didn’t have any food in her house.  I walked back into the living room and observed that we were actually sitting on beautiful black leather furniture and resting our feet on a fancy zebra print rug.  Her dining area contained a white dining room set with a crystal chandelier and lovely artwork on the walls. 

I learned very valuable lessons from this visit at the tender age of 23:

1.    Keeping up with the Joneses is so overrated.

2.    Spending outside of your budget is wreckless.

3.    Sitting in the dark to preserve energy is uncomfortable.

4.    Eating a car is pretty impossible.

It changed by perspective on "bling" in so many ways.  I felt sorry for her.  This woman exhausted her financial resources because she wanted to keep up appearances with a fancy, luxury vehicle and expensive furnishings, but had no food to eat…literally.  I remarked to my cousin, "Why is this girl sitting in the dark starving? That is crazy.  She would rather drive that car and look good than to buy herself some groceries.  I just don't get it!"  My cousin's response was, "Well, a few groceries is the least I can do, but I've stopped trying to talk to her about her priorities.  It doesn't seem to sink in."

 

If you can do it, then do it. I'm not hating. If you can’t, then don’t.  People care about the material things you possess, God doesn’t. 

Matthew 6:19-21

Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.