Ready to be Ringless?

"for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."  Matthew 25:35-36

After hearing Francis Chan share about his wife giving her engagement ring away to a ministry that uses the donated rings to help others with life saving water, I knew I had to learn more.  After wading through a number of ring selling sites (apparently selling engagement rings is big business... who knew?) I found it!  Here is the site:  www.withthisring.org/

Ya'll this is amazing.  At this website you can donate your engagement ring and they will auction it off in order to raise money to put wells in places where people do not have any clean drinking water.  This season they are focusing on India (I know! You know how much I love India!).

Read this from their website:

For girls, radical giving is about reclaiming a stolen identity.

Look at your purse. What comes to mind when you look at it? What does it say about you? Would anything change if it had a different label like Coach, Gucci or Prada?

Materialism is bred in our bones. The more things we have and the more expensive they are, the more valuable and important we think we are.

It can be surprising to find out that God doesn't share our affinity for materialism- driven status. Far from it, actually. He wants to set us free from it so we can find our identity in Him. And when we do, we find a freedom and confidence we didn't know was possible.

Radical giving is a means to that end. It is one way that we can refuse to be identified by our possessions. By holding even our most prized possessions loosely, we can learn to lean into who we are in Christ and join him in his mission.

Pretty awesome, right?  Now, before you ask, do I still have a diamond on my finger?  Yes.  I believe that until both my hubs and I are fully on the same page with this it wouldn't be right to give it.  This ring I wear is as much his as it is mine.  He chose it with me in mind, paid for it, and planned a very romantic way to present it.  It is very precious to us both.  However, I am praying that one day soon we can both be on the same page.  I am almost giddy with excitement at the idea of giving this ring for those who are thirsting for physical water and Living Water.  

What if Christian wives started to be known for their "Ringlessness"?  Wouldn't it be amazing if we all banded together and gave those things that are most precious to us for our Savior to use?  Do you think that it would make an impact on our world?  I do not mean the part of the world that would receive the water because it is obvious that it would make an impact there.  Lives would be saved both from the potential of a looming physical death but also from a spiritual death.  I mean, wouldn't it make an impact on the world around us?  On our every day world?  Would it be an opportunity to share with those that are dear to us?  Would it give us a chance to open conversations with those that are far from Him?  

After reading this are you considering it?  I wish we could chat over coffee.  I don't think Jesus has an issue with us having an engagement ring, but I do think Jesus might have a problem with an engagement ring having us.  Maybe they are called "possessions" for a reason.  

So, what do you think?  Do you agree or disagree?  Have you ever considered this? Comment away, I really want to hear what you have to say! 

"And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me"  Matthew 25:40