Viva Las Vegas

David and I took a 4-day trip to Las Vegas last week, since neither of us had been before. We had gone expecting it to be a mini-vacation, and came back exhausted and sick. Not to say that the trip wasn't fun-- I'm glad we went and got a taste for the Vegas experience. However, after 4 days, I got tired of the smoke constantly blowing in your face, annoyed with all the people on the street handing out stripper fliers, and sick of the incessant "bling bling" sound of the slot machines. It was one of those trips that you were happy to be home at the end.

Main highlights:

-Getting free tickets (from one of my dad's friends) to Lance Burton, an amazing magician performing at the Monte Carlo
-getting to visualize what the Eiffel tower looks like at the Paris hotel
-walking through the 'Italian streets' at the Venetian hotel
-playing for 30 minutes on TEN CENTS at one of the penny slot machines

On a more serious note, I have to say that spending time in Vegas really made me realize how easy it is to fall in the materialism trap. I found myself envious of the couples who were eating at all the posh restaurants we passed (we ate at the fast food court instead), or wishing we had endless money to spend at all the shops we walked by (our only purchase was a $1 souvenir magnet). Even though these thoughts were fleeting, I had to remind myself that all of it is temporary--and why invest in temporary things?

In the book of 1st Timothy, Paul sums it up quite nicely:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."

Couldn't have said it better myself.