what would you take?

what is irreplaceable to you?

My name is Maggie, most of my friends call me Mags, and I’m twenty years old. A little bit about me, I spent my entire childhood extremely sheltered, going to church, youth groups, church camps, events, and wan’t allowed to participate much in the world that seemed to be falling in around me. I went through most of my teenage years feeling incredibly bad about myself and guilty about every action I took, and unfortunately I know too many people who felt the same. I would lie about my true feelings about things constantly, or push my first response away to think of the most religiously correct one.

I remember quite clearly when I was fourteen years old, I was sitting in a small group, and the women leading it asked the question, “Minus pets, and family members, what three things would you take if your house was about to burn down?” everyone was silent for maybe three or four seconds before hands started raising eagerly. I knew what my answer would be right away, I raised my hand after most of the other kids had answered; “Well, my bible, because that’s the most important thing too me.” I stated confidently. I got an approving nod from the leader and she went on to the next question. I felt pretty good about my answer, even though it was an absolute lie. I had enough room in my arms to carry three items and I only said I wanted to take my bible?

The reason I lied was because I was so afraid of not having the approval of this woman I barley knew, but why? Because, she was going to bible collage and the only thing those people cared about was looking like they knew what they were doing. I should've answered honestly, saying i’d take my beloved sketch pad that I had poured countless hours of hard work into, and favorite sweatshirt that I used to hide myself from all my middle school chubs, or the card that my dad gave me for valentines day that I hold very close to my heart even still; Maybe if I had been honest with myself I would've realized that any bible can be replaced, and what is truly important too me, shouldn't be something too be ashamed of.

Dealing with religion, is something that I've worked very hard to train myself out of for the past three years, feeling guilty about my response to this question is something I will still be trying to shake years from now.

If you have a real faith, you shouldn’t feel a need to rush into a burning building to save it anyway.

But, if my house was burning down, I’d save my precious houseplant, my journal, and favorite painting. Things that have significant meaning and cannot be replaced.

What would you take?