why i need "cute" in my life

Let me introduce this post with a short video...this was first introduced to me and nate by our good friend hannah, who we love and miss!

We must have watched this video a million times and laughed together...mostly because it's sort of like mine and nate's conversations...

Lindsey: "I want to buy those $8 thumb tacks."

Nate: "umm..why?"

Lindsey: "Because they are cute"

Nate: "But those plain silver ones are a dollar."

Lindsey: "yeah, because they aren't cute"

I think before we made this leap of faith and moved to Africa...I imagined myself living in a tiny mud house, denying myself of every "good" thing and sacraficing everything that meant something in order to serve Christ. Ok, where did I get that idea? Why is it that I can't have cute things? God never said that...and in fact, in Mark 10:28-31 Jesus says something much different:

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

   “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." {The Bible}

Soo...that is why I have decided that it is ok to have "cute." I know I don't deserve it, and there is no Target down the road, but God is gracious and has placed this cool thing called the internet at my fingertips!! So it's ok that I order outfits for Zoe online from Old Navy and ask my mom to mail them, or a cute planner that I ask my mom to send (I love my planner!), or pretty pens, or make-up, or whatever. <At this point you are probably thinking "her poor mother is going to go broke mailing her all this stuff..." And she is sooo appreciated for it! > But it's ok that every now and then I get the urge to go shopping online and send mass amounts of stuff to my parents house. It's ok that we brought back 13 pieces of luggage when we came back from our vacation (yes, 13...that is a bit embarassing...and in our defense that included nate's parents luggage and some stuff for friends of ours here).

 I'll be honest...it's hard sometimes to live in Africa--especially when for almost 3 weeks the power has been cut  EVERY day, or because our water fluxuates from the point of not enough pressure to wash dishes to sooo much pressure that we have had to replace busted pipes like 8 times in the past year, or because we have gotten so used to our filthy floors from all the dust that we don't even notice a difference when we let our ridgeback run through the house with muddy paws....SO if a little bit of "cute" makes it a little easier and a pretty sparkly pen to write out my list for the market brings a smile to my face...well then, bring on those thumb tacks!

oh...here they are. Cute, right?? They are from the website Girl of all work. They have tons of cute stuff!