No More Hand-Me-Downs Please

Yes, I should be thankful for hand-me-downs. And quite honestly, I am. Without the generosity of those willing to hand-down, my hands would have been empty on more occasions than I can imagine.

Hand-me-downs have always been the "intercessor" so to speak for the real needs or wants in my life. As a child, I got hand-me-down toys from my aunt. As a teenager (and always), I've had hand-me-down cars. As and adult, it has been hand-me-down furniture. When I couldn't afford to get it on my own, I have always seemed to have to settle for hand-me-downs.

There are other hand-me-downs in my life too. Beliefs, passions, ideas, dreams...funny but in the past year or so, I have realized that the very essence of who I am is just a hand-me-down. I have never been my own person. I have always let other people's ideas and convictions be handed down to me. It is time for me to step up and start owning some things of my own. It is time to work a little harder and save up for those things I want and desire, rather than settling for a hand-me-down.

I know this sounds kind of crazy, but it is so true. There is nothing wrong with hand-me-downs in the right circumstances. But as the New Year begins, I want this year to be a year of No More Hand-Me-Downs. I want to claim each event or decision in my life as my own, not something someone else was tired of, so they pawned off on me for one reason or another.

I was inspired by this name from reading Isaiah.. It is talking about the renewing of God's people. Isaiah 60:16 says, "You know that I, God, am your Savior, your Redeemer, Champion of Jacob. I'll give you only the best- no more hand-me-downs!" I am finally realizing that God wants only the best for me. If I keep accepting hand-me-downs from everyone else, my life is going to eventually either be filled with junk, or stuff that really doesn't represent me anyway.

I want to discover my own beliefs, convictions, ideas, and you know... even my own NEW set of furniture. I want to discover God's best for my life. So I guess it is time for the first step...the step I have been dreading... CLEANING OUT THE OLD STUFF! Some things are just setting around cluttering up my life, so they will be easy to get rid of, but there are some other things that have become sentimental.. which will be much harder.

Keep me in your prayers. God has a new beginning for 2008. One more thing, don't be offended if I say to you, "NO MORE HAND-ME-DOWNS", it only means I have decided to wait for God's best.