Probably the best way to begin celebrating the abundance of the Lord's blessings in our lives is by PURGING. I'm not talking about picking through and getting rid of a few things here and there. I'm talking about serious, pull everything out of the closet/pantry/drawer/cupboard/room, go through it with a fine toothcomb and get rid of everything that is not being used frequently by some member of the family.
We started the day after Christmas with our garage. Now, in the past "cleaning the garage" actually meant moving things around and sweeping up a bit. Nope...not this time. We hit it hard...reboxing, trashing and donating. If it wasn't completely necessary, it was gone. Dh took a whole Suburban load of things to be donated and we filled almost as many trashcans. Whew, that felt good! Since then, the boys have spent hours out playing with the larger toys we have set up in the third bay. It also gives them space to run around on very cold days when the energy level is a bit high. Definitely worth the effort.
So how does purging celebrate God's abundance in our lives? For one thing, we can FIND the things we have, which allows us to make better use of them. That's a good start! Secondly, all the things we were no longer using aren't taking up space in our home and are now blessing someone else. Lack of clutter not only frees up physical space in our home, but mental and emotional space as well...it brings freedom and peace of mind. Those are priceless.
When we moved into our place 2 1/2 years ago we went through stuff before we moved. But guess what it needs to be down again. Not as much as before. But it makes the place look and feel nicer.
I'm not sure what you have to lose but I drink green tea. I do put honey w/it taste better.
This is so true! I have found in the last 8-10years that I don't need all the "things" I thought I needed when I was in my 20s and early 30s. When we want for "things", it truly does take our focus off of God and what He wants for us. Life is so much simpler when we declutter. Thank you for sharing this...it's a great reminder!
I recently did this to my closet. (After dh asked me to...) ;) I decided to give it away instead of nit picking over everything little thing and trying to decide how much it was worth. I usually over estimate anyway --
How freeing. Now my closet has the clothes that I WEAR in it and nothing more. Eekkk... Hope I don't get any fatter. I gave away all those I save, just in case.
I agree it feels so good to have a clean space.
You did some great work!!!
I'm sorry that your husband is going to loose his job.
I'll be praying for provision and peace.
Thank you for al of your sweet comments on my blog.
Blessings and friendship,
Linda
Amen. Like the old saying says - "I own my things, they don't own me". We've been doing a lot of this for the last several months and it's nice to not have the baggage (mental moreso than physical) .
The daily, sometimes hourly, musings of a homeschooling mom of four surviving on prayer, friendship and lots of Starbucks. Some days my cup runs over and some days it all spills out the cracks...and I wouldn't have it any other way.
