Nosotros los pobres...ustedes los ricos

I've never been impressed by anything having to do with consuming or acquiring things. Going shopping has always been a dreadful event for me. Every time I look at a pricetag I think

"That money could surely be put to better use than this!" or "I'm not the type of person that would own an outfit that costs this much"

Having come from a family with a clearly defined "poor side" and rich side", I've been able to experience life on both ends of the spectrum. I never really knew a Christian perspective on being able to afford nice things. All I knew was that my Grandfather was incredibly wealthy and there was serious drama over his money when he died. It would put even the best Mexican soap operas to shame. Growing up we couldn't afford expensive things, but my mother made sure that we were cultured, well spoken, and nicely dressed. We traveled to Mexico quite often and got to experience how "The rich side" lived. It was during these trips that I realized that although we were considered the "poor side", we were fortunate to not have to sell gum on the streets at age 5 like the hundreds of poor children that would starve if they didn't work. Negative experiences combined with watching old mexican black and white movies that villianized the rich (most notably the one that this entry is titled after) led me to believe that the rich simply lived to get more money and spend it as lavishly as possible just for the sake of telling others how they spent it.

My first exposure to a healthy Christian perspective on wealth was through a roommate. I was so impressed with how she enjoyed the process of looking for and finding good deals on quality items. Just as she wasn't afraid to spend substantially more for an item if it was made well, she wasn't snobbish enough to not buy something second hand. Her criteria for purchasing things had nothing to do with name, label, or even newness; rather, her primary concern was if the item was made with skill and care. She didn't own a lot of things. Her home wasn't cluttered with trendy things and her closet didn't overflow with the latest styles. Instead, she selected a few pieces of well made furniture and laid out carefully selected artful decorative pieces that had meaning to her. I realized through her that owning nice things is not wrong and that if you are going to spend money on something, that item should be worth owning.

Nowadays I'm trying to see and appreciate the details that make something special, and not reject something just because it was expensive. I want to allow myself the time and money it takes to buy things for their quality and not for it's cheapness. Being a mom has helped to change my perspective because I find myself wanting the best for my daughter. Not because I care about what anyone thinks, or because I want to tell people what label she's wearing; but because I think she is WORTHY of it. And if she is WORTHY just because God made her that way, then maybe I am too.