I love a good bargain. I see them as blessings from above. Ann Taylor skirt, new with tags in my size on eBay for $2, just because the seller spelled it "Anne?" Um, yes, big bargain. Blessing. A kiss from heaven, in the form of a killer deal on a skirt.

I’m not a bargain hunter though. I don’t go out of my way to look for sales, coupons, etc. (Just eBay) I am a bargain appreciator, and I’ve noticed it has seeped into other areas of my life. For example, food. Often I will look at something, say a piece of chocolate cake.  It’s there in front of me and I love chocolate. And I ask myself if it is Worth The Calories? Depends. Is it a great piece of cake? Then pass me a fork. But if the answer is no, no thanks.

Also, this approach has worked - with ultimate success - in the area of Soap Operas. Are there any closet soap fans out there? I understand. As The World Turns is part of my HERITAGE, y’all. I’m not kidding. My mom and sister and I all watched it. My grandmothers ON BOTH SIDES watched it. And in the summers growing up, it only became natural to watch those CBS soaps that came on before and after, and so the ATWT thing turned into Y&R, Bold and the Beautiful, AND Guiding Light. Now that’s just not right. I watched these for years, knowing full well I should never, never, ever admit that to anyone in the church world, because please! The glorification of sin on those shows would send me straight to hell before the cheesy music even finished playing. 

Anyway, I did it for years, listened wistfully to the theme songs, did not go straight to hell, and am here to tell you that I used the Bargain Appreciator approach to ending my habit. Warning: It took years.

For years I’d ask myself if watching such shows was worth the guilt. The changing the channel everytime my kids walked into the room, lest I contaminate their sweet minds. And for years, um, yes. The answer was YES! I mean, I NEEDED to know if Holden would rescue Lily the umpteenth time she was kidnapped. But I continued to ask the question: Is It Worth It?, or Is This A Good Deal? And then a few times a week, the answer started to be no. Now, this is easy with soaps, since you really only need to watch a few every few weeks to ‘keep up.’ But then the answer started to be ‘no’ every day. I am proud to admit that I have been clean and sober from soaps for about 2 years. Maybe less, not sure.

And yes, I’m sorta shallow. Am fine with that. But hey, at least I’m not watching As the World Turns right now, and YES, it’s on, now that I think about it. But we’re watching PBS in my house since I am a more virtuous version of the soap watching gal I used to be.

And before you think I’m a total flake, check this out: (But note the ‘quickly respond’ part! Um, oops)

^{Romans 12 1-2 The Message Translation}

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life–and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. ²Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.