Indulgence

Pure indulgence. That is the phrase that comes to mind when I think of the environment my girl and I were in this weekend.

We had a wonderful time on our trip. My daughter adored the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. I think we were in the store 4 times before the weekend was over! But that is why we went, after all! And the folks there were wonderful. We had dessert there Saturday night. Got off to a bumpy start as the hostess we had talked to that afternoon was apparently on break and they had a miscommunication regarding our promised seating. But wow, they went above and beyond to make it right. My girl's milkshake was complimentary, the server treated us like royalty, they gave her a goodie bag with a free book and some treats, and at the end the chef came out and chatted with us and gave her another book! Oh, and did I mention the dessert was to-die-for?



The chef had trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and that fondue was made from the most delectable Belgian chocolate that I have ever placed on my tongue. Bliss in a bowl.

The store itself was such fun. She got her doll's hair done in the salon. Too cute.

As for the rest of our time, she ice-skated around this enormous Christmas tree, and we enjoyed wandering through the mall and just being together.




For those of you that have done Beth Moore's Daniel study, I did feel a bit like I was in Babylon, however. While we certainly have upscale stores here, I don't hang out in them. We ventured into one jewelry store where the most prominent feature by the door was the armed security guard. Looked in the case at one ornate diamond necklace and my girl could see that the tag indicated it was 43 total carats. The salespeople were all busy with "real customers", so I couldn't even find out how many years' salary it would have cost. (We'd already seen the apparently "slummy" Tiffany's down the way with their "mere" $13,000 solitaire earrings!)

At another store we glanced at the tag of a prominently displayed purse: $2,350. As in two thousand. For a purse. (And what would you put in it after you spent all your money to buy it?!) And in my girl's words "it's not even pretty."


The funniest thing, though, was that with all this opulence, they also actually had a Payless Shoes in the mall. Walked in and there on display were the shoes that Beth Moore bought and blogged about! I had to laugh.


Now lest I step on any toes, I absolutely realize that there are Godly people out there with great wealth, and that money itself is not evil. But while I can certainly have my moments of wanting what I can't afford, for this day, I was happy to leave the upper crust and come home.


Although I wouldn't have minded if the maid had come in to do my bed this morning.


But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

1 Timothy 6:6-11