Because I Said So!

My family does a GREAT job of honoring me on Mother's Day.  I am not a big "gift" person - it's just not my love language - but I DO love a sappy card, hugs and kisses and having my family be extra considerate as ways of expressing their appreciation.  This year, however, I asked for a gift.  I asked for my husband to purchase the Manny Pacquiao fight on pay-per-view.  This isn't the cheapest gift on Earth. We have to pay about $60 to watch what may prove to be a VERY short program. It doesn't matter to me.  I truly love watching boxing and especially Pac-Man.  He has done amazing things to improve the lives of many Filipinos.  He is generous and giving.  Although he is a terror in the ring, during the post-match interviews, he is one humble dude.   
ANYTIME I ask for ANYTHING that costs money, I always struggle with whether or not I am being selfish. I know that the Bible says that God gave us "all good things to enjoy"  (I Tim. 6:17) but I am a person who truly doesn't NEED anything! I'm not trying to be all hyper spiritual. I haven't taken a vow of poverty.  I KNOW I can't scrape my children's uneaten food into a box and mail it to China . . . I never impose that kind of thinking on my kids because guilt, although a powerful tool in the short term has terrible long-lasting consequences.  I do not struggle with  spending money on myself because of guilt. I struggle because of my convictions regarding stewardship.  God has blessed our family in crazy ways.  I just want to be sure that everything we spend honors Him.   On the other hand, it's SO easy to over spiritualize your daily life in such a way that you're just NO FUN anymore.  Do you know those kinds of people? The kind of person who responds to a comment like "ugh . . . it's raining AGAIN"  with "praise the Lord for the rain that feeds the Earth in the same way His spirit quenches our deepest thirst".    Yeah . . . a barrel of laughs, a party favorite, a real riot . . .    
So, I  am off to make some rockin' good sausage dip and watch the fight with my family.  Why? Because it's almost Mother's Day and I SAID SO!~