sufficient

Kohls is not a place I go a lot or think about a lot. There's not one anywhere near me in Nashville, nor was there one anywhere near me in Atlanta. There's one near my parents' so there's generally an obligatory trip there with the mother at Christmas. If you'd asked me before today, I'd have said it's a moderately priced store- more expensive than Walmart or even Target, but not as much as any department store at the mall or say, the Gap. I guess, basically, it's a place I think of as entirely affordable.

But with my young friend today, everything took on a different perspective. Thirty dollar shorts or a forty dollar dress that I would hardly blink an eye at spending that much on were suddenly outrageously expensive and almost every price tag she looked at, she commented about how expensive things were. Via sales and the clearance rack, we were able to find a pair of pants and a pair of shorts within budget, but it was hard to look around and have her see all the jewelry, dresses, shoes and other things that caught her eye and know they were out of the question.

It's hard too, to not just buy things for her, to not succumb to the idea that her having financial resources is the answer to what I perceive as her "problems." But it's not. It's Jesus who will, whether she can afford those black converse high stops she wants so badly or not. And she knows that. Time with my young friend is sweet. She's respectful and funny. Driving to Hendersonville, we talked and joked about all the relationships that would be right had Adam not eaten that fruit in the garden. And an added really sweet thing about my young friend is that's she's learned the value of work. She knows she can do things to earn money and likes to work so that she can get those things she wants and needs. She informed me today that my car is dirty (it's true) and could she clean it for me and earn a few dollars? YES. Why would I pay someone at the carwash to do it when she would love to do it, I can spend time with her, and and she can work towards those high tops?

I love this manifestation of the body I've landed in.