Treasures cluttering my view

 I say " I can't stand clutter", but if that is true then where did ALL THIS STUFF come from?

I suppose I cold "blame" the clutter on the fact that we have been married 13 years and we still think we are going to use those untouched wedding gifts

or on the fact that we have three wonderful kids who have toys and clothes and books and "stuff"

or that my Mom died 11 1/2 years ago and I have so much of her "stuff"...."stuff" that supposedly has memories attached to each thing (HA! I have pictures and siblings and a spouse who knew my Mom....the memories will not disappear because I get rid of the dress she wore in my wedding!).

But the truth is that we have so much stuff because we have allowed ourselves to nestle in the middle of it all thinking things like "I might need it someday" (really, will my feet shrink back down to before I had four pregnancies-size so I can wear roller blades with a three year old strapped to my back? or will those lovely silk shirts every again fit my not so firm arms, or even better, when will I ever need to adorn those silk-wear-with- the- suits-you no-longer-have shirts?)

Matthew 6: 19-21 states, " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

My, my, tsk, tsk. Look at all the earthly treasures that surround our family! What a burden it is! House cleaning has become a pain because we needed to move all the "stuff" off the floor before vacuuming, off the tables before wiping, off the shelves before dusting. UGH!! And how much "stuff" have we moved each of the SEVEN times we have moved!

ENOUGH!! that is what we said in a low murmur last year. It was difficult to get enthusiastic last year because there was so much stuff to go through and purge.  But we started. We started with a "general entire-house purge". We collected what we thought was an amazing amount of "stuff" in the basement and dutifully gave away as much as friends would take (presumably for needs) and then offered the remainder for sale at a garage sale and then donated the leftovers.

AHHH....it felt good.

That was until we sat down and looked at the shelves in the living room, the THIRTY BOXES of books on the third floor, the unused children's clothes and toys, and on and on......it was as if we were blind during the first purge. I was in awe with HOW MUCH "stuff" we had NOT purged.

And so we started to purge again. This time we are going room by room, shelf by shelf, drawer by drawer. I think it will take us at least a year to truly purge and get down to the "stuff" we actually need and the "stuff" that truly are tied to memories and "stuff" that we do want to pass down for generations.

As each drawer, each shelf, each box is emptied, I feel more and more content. It is true. The less we have the less we really need or want. And most of the "stuff" that was cluttering our lives had found residence with people who need it.

We still have a LONG way to go, but we are moving in the right direction and we are diligently tending to this task daily. This has been a good life-lesson for our children and a great opportunity to teach our family what the Bible says about wealth and about what it means to be God's money managers (I shall write another entry on another day about what we are learning about being God's money managers.)

The removal of the "stuff" that we have purged has already almost inexplicably freed up an amazing amount of time in our lives. Time that we fill with doing "things" like being silly with the kids in the back yard....multiple times a day, and going for longer bike rides, and spending more time with our neighbors, and finding time to volunteer, and reading more of the Bible more often, and generally doing "things" that have a purpose in God's plan, "things" that cause contentment and that create a slower pace of life (though we seem to be doing more!) .
And so now I shall end. I have two boxes of "stuff" that need gone through and prepared for "eviction". And I am excited about purging....and so are our two boys and my husband....it is like a wonderful affliction....that presumably will be cured when all this excess "stuff" is gone!