Ever heard of Calico Critters toys? They are cute and fuzzy and collectible and super expensive. Basically, they're a family-oriented doll house collection set. Our friends from the Hopscotch Rabbit Family wanted to introduce themselves.
But they are the very epitome of Allison's childhood dreams, even more than Ralphy obsessed about his BB gun in a Christmas Story. Well with our daughter turning 1 year old, Allison had a sudden surge of nostalgia and became dead set on one idea: Katelyn needs Calico Critters.
After paying way too much for way too little at the toy store, I was determined to show Allison how much cheaper they were online... but I could only find full-priced items. Until, that is, we found people selling entire used sets on Ebay which included the families AND buildings AND accessories. We spent a long time looking carefully at each product, seeing if they looked new, how good of a deal it was, what the shipping costs were... just for fun of course. Pay MONEY for these used things? No way. Not me. I would buy our one-year-old daughter a laptop computer before I spent money buying fuzzy critters. I hate critters. And they're girly. Girly fuzzy critters.
...but they are pretty cute.
...and come in cute families with a Dad, Mom, and 2 kids... (you buy twins separately of course)
.... and I kind of remember them from MY childhood too...
... and after all, it's Ebay, so surely someone else will bid higher. Do you like this one?
... WAIT! This one is Buy it now! For HALF the price of the one we bought at the toy store today! Do it, click! Click! and... Click! Yes! .... they are cute....and not THAT expensive....
....... Placing a bid on this other set is probably pretty safe - someone else will bid higher for sure, but ... just in case.
Click. *Ding!* Highest Bidder!
.... whoa - this one has squirrels AND dogs ! Click. *Ding!* Hey check out that one - yeah looks cool. Yeah...and it doesn't REALLY matter that the dog's ear is chewed off a little bit... *Ding!*
.... An entire house with all the furniture and 17 figures?? Total deal! *Ding!*
And there you have it. In less than an hour we had become the highest bidder on 13 different products coming to a grand total of several hundred dollars.
WHAT??? On Toys???
Yeah, yeah. That's okay - it's an investment into the future... future imagination and... growth. Yes, all is well. We totally meant to do that by the way. Our intention the whole time. Totally.
And thus it is with so many things in life. Now both these toys and the website are actually great things, but the process illustrates a good point. The adversary has many tactics to use against us to get us to do things we never even dreamed of doing - in such a short time. Drugs, drinking, smoking, pornography, cheating, lying, infidelity, immorality, stealing, gambling - the list goes on. Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they will try a new vice that day. The world's evil forces uses a carefully prepared path for each of us to lull us away into a false sense of security and carefully drift us on a path to pain and regret.
"And others he will pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: Allis well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell." The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 28:21) - CLICK to learn more
It is the same process - the same slippery slope - that we got caught up in on Ebay. (I was going to provide examples below for vices other than online bidding - but that would only be suggestive rather than helpful. We all know what these steps mean.)
1. We begin to "harmlessly" entertain an idea.
Maybe we could get just a few little critters...
2. We innocently rationalize why it might be okay to try... just once.
They're nostalgic, and someone will surely bid higher - it's safe.
3. The "first time" creates this excited thrill of "danger" that muddles our thinking and understanding.
Well we got that one pretty easily - no harm done. Lets get some more.
4. We continue to do it under the false notion that "it's not hurting anyone" or "no risks involved."
It's just bidding, not actually buying. It's safe. We won't end up paying for it. Lets just try it and see.
5. Finally we have the fleeting thought that maybe we made a mistake.
We don't actually need 100 critters do we?
6. We quickly justify our actions and tell ourselves that it is all for the better.
But we'll play with them. It's a good thing. We can just cut the grocery budget in half...for a few months...
7. The pain and regret finally sets in when the real consequences hit hard.
We just might win all the bids and pay for every last critter we never really wanted anyways. Ouch.
While the Adversary would like us to stay forever in this unhappy and awful state, the Savior Jesus Christ has prepared a way for us to overcome the pain of sin and the heartache of trials in this life. The Atonement provides a way to return to the light by following another set of steps of repentance (Click here for a PDF of a complete 12 step addiction recovery program):
1. Admit honestly to yourself, God, and others that you made a mistake and make a resolve to change.
2. Do your best to right the wrongs you have committed.
3. Ask forgiveness of your Heavenly Father in prayer, pleading for his love and mercy.
4. Continue to live righteously and resolve to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
I know that through the Atonement of Christ all pain and sorrow can be turned into light and joy. However, we are never "better off" or "stronger" having endured the pain - we are ALWAYS better off having completely avoided the trial. And although we may be able to sell back the toys we purchased in our bidding frenzy, correcting the wrongs of immorality or infidelity are not so easily resolved. I am grateful that my wife and I could learn this scary lesson in the relatively safe environment where our mistakes can easily be turned around. The world is not so forgiving.
We must put forth our very best effort to help ourselves, our children, and our friends break the addicting cycle of vicious sins and vices. More importantly - we must put forth an even GREATER effort to help ourselves, our children, and our friends avoid the slippery slope of sin entirely. If taught correct principles and shown a consistent righteous example, those individuals standing on the top of the slide looking down and "entertaining those harmless thoughts" will hopefully remember the things you taught them. Learn more about strengthening families at mormon.org.
The path to God is straight and narrow, but there will be plenty of fun swirly slippery slides all along the way offering you a "shortcut" to happiness. One game of snakes and ladders is enough to realize that no one is completely safe from falling - we're all at risk, and must all be on constant guard.
We cannot win on the slippery slope of sin.
We must avoid it all together.
We must seek help and repentance as soon as possible.
Otherwise - we'll be stuck with 5 little dollhouses, 112 figurines, and more miniature chairs, sofas, and beds than an entire hotel.
But hey... they're cute and fuzzy... right?
But they are the very epitome of Allison's childhood dreams, even more than Ralphy obsessed about his BB gun in a Christmas Story. Well with our daughter turning 1 year old, Allison had a sudden surge of nostalgia and became dead set on one idea: Katelyn needs Calico Critters.
After paying way too much for way too little at the toy store, I was determined to show Allison how much cheaper they were online... but I could only find full-priced items. Until, that is, we found people selling entire used sets on Ebay which included the families AND buildings AND accessories. We spent a long time looking carefully at each product, seeing if they looked new, how good of a deal it was, what the shipping costs were... just for fun of course. Pay MONEY for these used things? No way. Not me. I would buy our one-year-old daughter a laptop computer before I spent money buying fuzzy critters. I hate critters. And they're girly. Girly fuzzy critters.
...but they are pretty cute.
...and come in cute families with a Dad, Mom, and 2 kids... (you buy twins separately of course)
.... and I kind of remember them from MY childhood too...
... and after all, it's Ebay, so surely someone else will bid higher. Do you like this one?
... WAIT! This one is Buy it now! For HALF the price of the one we bought at the toy store today! Do it, click! Click! and... Click! Yes! .... they are cute....and not THAT expensive....
....... Placing a bid on this other set is probably pretty safe - someone else will bid higher for sure, but ... just in case.
Click. *Ding!* Highest Bidder!
.... whoa - this one has squirrels AND dogs ! Click. *Ding!* Hey check out that one - yeah looks cool. Yeah...and it doesn't REALLY matter that the dog's ear is chewed off a little bit... *Ding!*
.... An entire house with all the furniture and 17 figures?? Total deal! *Ding!*
And there you have it. In less than an hour we had become the highest bidder on 13 different products coming to a grand total of several hundred dollars.
WHAT??? On Toys???
Yeah, yeah. That's okay - it's an investment into the future... future imagination and... growth. Yes, all is well. We totally meant to do that by the way. Our intention the whole time. Totally.
And thus it is with so many things in life. Now both these toys and the website are actually great things, but the process illustrates a good point. The adversary has many tactics to use against us to get us to do things we never even dreamed of doing - in such a short time. Drugs, drinking, smoking, pornography, cheating, lying, infidelity, immorality, stealing, gambling - the list goes on. Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they will try a new vice that day. The world's evil forces uses a carefully prepared path for each of us to lull us away into a false sense of security and carefully drift us on a path to pain and regret.
"And others he will pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: Allis well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell." The Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 28:21) - CLICK to learn more
It is the same process - the same slippery slope - that we got caught up in on Ebay. (I was going to provide examples below for vices other than online bidding - but that would only be suggestive rather than helpful. We all know what these steps mean.)
1. We begin to "harmlessly" entertain an idea.Maybe we could get just a few little critters...
2. We innocently rationalize why it might be okay to try... just once.
They're nostalgic, and someone will surely bid higher - it's safe.
3. The "first time" creates this excited thrill of "danger" that muddles our thinking and understanding.
Well we got that one pretty easily - no harm done. Lets get some more.
4. We continue to do it under the false notion that "it's not hurting anyone" or "no risks involved."
It's just bidding, not actually buying. It's safe. We won't end up paying for it. Lets just try it and see.
5. Finally we have the fleeting thought that maybe we made a mistake.
We don't actually need 100 critters do we?
6. We quickly justify our actions and tell ourselves that it is all for the better.
But we'll play with them. It's a good thing. We can just cut the grocery budget in half...for a few months...
7. The pain and regret finally sets in when the real consequences hit hard.
We just might win all the bids and pay for every last critter we never really wanted anyways. Ouch.
1. Admit honestly to yourself, God, and others that you made a mistake and make a resolve to change.
2. Do your best to right the wrongs you have committed.
3. Ask forgiveness of your Heavenly Father in prayer, pleading for his love and mercy.
4. Continue to live righteously and resolve to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
I know that through the Atonement of Christ all pain and sorrow can be turned into light and joy. However, we are never "better off" or "stronger" having endured the pain - we are ALWAYS better off having completely avoided the trial. And although we may be able to sell back the toys we purchased in our bidding frenzy, correcting the wrongs of immorality or infidelity are not so easily resolved. I am grateful that my wife and I could learn this scary lesson in the relatively safe environment where our mistakes can easily be turned around. The world is not so forgiving.
We must put forth our very best effort to help ourselves, our children, and our friends break the addicting cycle of vicious sins and vices. More importantly - we must put forth an even GREATER effort to help ourselves, our children, and our friends avoid the slippery slope of sin entirely. If taught correct principles and shown a consistent righteous example, those individuals standing on the top of the slide looking down and "entertaining those harmless thoughts" will hopefully remember the things you taught them. Learn more about strengthening families at mormon.org.
We cannot win on the slippery slope of sin.
We must avoid it all together.
We must seek help and repentance as soon as possible.
Otherwise - we'll be stuck with 5 little dollhouses, 112 figurines, and more miniature chairs, sofas, and beds than an entire hotel.
But hey... they're cute and fuzzy... right?
