I remember when I was young, one of my pastors gave a sermon titled, “Getting Your Wanter Fixed”. Obviously, this was about us, as humans, wanting the bigest and best in life. However, I recently discovered something about myself!

The difference between wants and needs is a battle that we all, I think, have fought once or twice, or twenty times in our lives. Deciding what to do with our finances, take care of our wants or needs. I think we’ve all been in the position where we come across a little extra money, be it a bonus, a gift, etc. and have the age old question of, “Do I spend it on something I WANT? Or, something I NEED?” But, what happens when our wants becomes our NEEDS?

I’ve become a Needer and I NEED to get it fixed! I recently went on a weekend shopping trip with my mom and 2 of our female cousins (a girls weekend, if you will). I love to shop, I can shop for anything, anytime! At one point in my life I would shop if I was bored and I am proud to say that I’m not that bad anymore, however, I am a bad NEEDER!

While on this shopping trip I was looking at an item (I don’t even remember what it was anymore) and I said, “Oh, I need this.” My mom shook her head and said, “You mean, you want that!” “No, I NEED it” UGH!! If I had a shell, I would have shrunk myself right back into it before my mom had the opportunity to shake her head and move on to the next rack or shelf of stuff! Like I said, I don’t even remember what that item was or if I even bought it, but I can tell you this…of all the STUFF I bought that shopping trip, none of it did I NEED! Later, in the hotel, we were getting ready to go to dinner and I said, “I NEED to get my hair colored!” No one else made any comment, but in my head I thought..”What has happened to you?”

I’ve always been a  person (much to my dismay sometimes) who felt the need to “keep up with the times.”  Have the nicest home decor, shop at the trendiest shops, dress with the latest fashion trends, etc.  However, it seems that either I’ve become much worse over time OR someone else possessed my body that weekend!  As much as I’d like to think it has been the latter, I know better.  So…where do I go from here?  The things that I’ve been thinking I NEED are really my WANTS.  I look around my house and I have a nice home, great home decor (if I must say so myself!), a closet full of nice clothes and shoes (some cutting edge, some not-so-much!), a nice car, my bills are paid, there is a roof over my head, and groceries in my cupboard.  What else is there to WANT or NEED?

I’m not sure where to go from here other than to watch what I say about things and how I view my WANTS & NEEDS.  All I can do, is work at it as I go, I guess.  So, instead of giving something up for lent, I’m going to give something…I’m going to give it my all to not be so materialistic and stop focusing on the things I think I NEED, but focus on the good in my life and the wonderful things I already have!