My oldest daughter, now 4 years old, kind of has a Barbie obsession. Not an unhealthy obsession but an obsession nonetheless. She probably has over 50 Barbie's and if you asked her to gather them all together in one spot - she couldn't.
Not because she wouldn't want too, but solely for the fact that they are placed all throughout the house, in various vehicles and they are even spread out about multiple homes.
That is neither here nor there, fact is, my daughter loves her Barbie's.
Sure - one day that love for her Barbie's will fade and she will move onto another obsession, but for now, it's Barbie's... and I'm okay with that.
Anyways... The real reason for the title of this post - "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff".
My daughter just recently turned 4, in fact is was just 9 days ago at the creation of this post, and since then she has been getting gifts from various people. The theme of most of these gifts you ask? You guessed it, Barbie's. So - in the past week her collection has grown, and she loves every single one the same, with all her heart.
One of the Barbie's in particular was a 2008 Collectors Edition Happy Holiday Barbie. What does this even mean?
Well a quick Google Search and I realize that this Barbie is kind of a BIG deal.
You see, Mattel (creators of Barbie) produces Holiday Barbie's around Christmas time every year. Mattel started this in 1998 with no intentions of it becoming what it did. The craze has since dies down but nonetheless.
So my daughters 2008 Holiday Barbie is in our living room and she can't wait to open and play with it.
So my wife rips open the packaging and quickly retrieves the doll from her perfectly meticulous packaging (mind you - that is not meant to be opened). I come out from the bedroom and she says, "I don't think this was meant to be opened." I come back with, "well, why not?". She goes on to explain that she thinks it's a collectors edition-type Barbie. Well sure enough, now is about the time that I did my research and found out all the facts that I mentioned earlier in this post.
But what does any of this have to do with not sweating the small stuff?
The joy on my daughters face when she saw that Barbie for the first time, there was no was she wasn't going to be getting it out of the package to play with.
And she has, and she will, and she will continue to. She didn't care that that Barbie was 10 years old and had never been removed from the packaging. She didn't care that maybe that Barbie was supposed to sit on a shelf forever. She didn't care that that particular Barbie could have cost $50 - $100.
None of that mattered to her. All she knew was that she wanted to get that Barbie home to play with it!
Sure, it's a $50 Barbie that isn't worth much more than that today, but that's not the point. The point is that, no matter how big or small a possession is, or how important something is to us here on earth, all that thing will ever be is a possession.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
It's clear that we are not to build up our "treasures" or possessions on earth because one day they will be dust...
To my daughter, that Barbie was just a Super Awesome toy for her to play with. Not some collectors item that deserved to be worshiped and placed on a pedestal.
Enjoy the moment, don't take life for granted, don't worship your stuff cause' that's where your heart will be...
Thanks for reading,
Strahl.