God-approved impulse shopping.

Impulse spending is a funny thing. It can make you feel so good and so bad all at once.

As you stare into the bright lights of your computer screen, you innocently decide to click over to your favorite guilty-pleasure website. For me, it's nearly always anything to do with skin care products. 

You spend unholy amounts of time reading product descriptions and reviews. 

Add to cart.

Add to cart.

Add to cart.

View cart.

Hmm...

Remove from cart.

Remove from cart.

Hmm... no, go back and

Add to cart.

Repeat 3-5 times.

Eventually you settle on those perfect items that you NEED. YOU REALLY NEED THEM. Because this one uses acid to burn off all your wrinkles and this one will moisturize your chemically burnt face! After only 8-12 weeks and $130, you will look 0.0009% younger. Totes worth it.

So you checkout, entering the credit card number you know by heart, then, holding your breath for just a half-second, you click the "Finalize your order" button.

The adrenaline rushes. So happy! And, what else do I feel? So... guilty. But, whatever. You're really going to use these things! ...Really!

Right? 

This is when you unfortunately remember you already have a cabinet with a number of partially used products that are remarkably like the ones you just purchased. Then you tell yourself to shut up because that's all Boring and no Fun to think about.

Now, all of that is strictly hypothetical.* I've never actually impulse shopped ever in my life.* Seriously!* But I've heard that it can be something like that, so I made a good guess as to what YOU, dear Impulse Shopper and Super Dedicated Reader/Major Rebecca FanGirl or FanBoy, may have experienced.

Now, as my friend David would say, "I told you that story to tell you this one."

I have a few expenses that automatically draft out of my checking account each month. I recently began switching those accounts to charge to my credit card so I can get a little cash back on that money. One of those automatic payments was my donation to World Vision, so I hopped on their website and switched the payment method. 

(Getting a cashback bonus on your donations--icky or no? Discuss.)

While I was on their website, I started looking around--just browsing, you know--at the various funds I could donate to and next thing you know, I'm on the "Sponsor a Child" page. Then I'm watching videos and crying. Then I'm searching for a child to sponsor.

Then I found her. A sweet baby girl from Guatemala. A sweet baby girl with fat, chubby cheeks. A sweet baby girl with fat, chubby cheeks who was born on the same day as my daughter.

God flooded my brain with Mom Hormones (Uterus calling! Tick Tock!, but this is the next best thing to having another baby IMMEDIATELY!), and He said, "Hey, Rebecca, do it."

Add to cart.

Donate.

Finalize.

There was no thinking. No second guessing. No removing from cart and adding back to cart. 

I can tell you that there has never been a cute dress, a pair of shoes, makeup, or a lotion (not even hair soap) that has ever given me a sense of JOY from having given up my dollars for that item. That thing. Maybe some fleeting happiness, sure, but not joy.

This gave me a sense of joy. 

So why am I telling you about it? Because I want to pay myself on the back? No. Because this is a blog, and I'm supposed to occasionally use this blog to be deep and profound so that it gets shared on facebook and I become an overnight Internet Sensation so that maybe someone will be like, "Hey, I want to make yogurt."

or

"Hey, I'd like to use a bar of soap in my hair, too!"

or 

"Hey, maybe I should look into finding ways to quit buying a little bit of the junk I routinely trade my hard-earned dollars for and instead give it away to someone who needs it more than I need my face chemically burned by a well-reviewed at-home peel."

And because when you find something that brings you joy--good, healthy, God joy--you probably should share it so other people can look into it and see if they get that good kind of God joy from it, too. It would be selfish to keep that to myself, right?

Right.

And if this happens to go viral... well, that's cool. People can learn about how I'm this aggressively mediocre blogger with a sometimes "salty" way of sharing my opinions (according to my beloved husband) who hates competitive crafting, Elf on the Shelf, and armadillos, loves educational programming on PBS, my cat, and oddly enough, watching certain crafting videos. 

(See? I threw all those links in for all the TENS of people who are going to read this blog post and become instant fans!)

Cute Guatemalan baby cheeks to you and yours,

xo

* I'm lying. Asterisks nearly always mean I'm lying.