The other day I decided that rather than save all that "stuff" in my room for a garage sale (or selling it online) that I could just donate it all somewhere that was handling needs for the thousands of refugees that have made their way to our city.  I even went through our dressers and closets and decided that I would even get rid of those clothes I've been saving for "the next baby" (yeah, I'm saving all the things that people have passed down to me, why am I thinking the buck should stop here??  Pass it on!)  Anyway, I had the great idea to call my neighbor/friend who is 74 and been widowed over a year now.  Her house is FULL of STUFF.  So she said that she could clean out her closets but wasn't sure she could do it on her own, so there I went to help her.  WHEW!!  3 closets JAMMED full of stuff!  It literally filled the entire back of my suburban (with the 3rd row seat folded up too!!).  I mean, there were clothes like you wouldn't believe!!  Jumpsuits....Mr. Bill LOVED jumpsuits.....ya know those old-man type zoot suit kind of things?  He had at least one of every color, and two of most of the colors!!  Yikes!!  And they really aren't wealthy at all, but these clothes! 

Anyway, I threw in my stuff into the middle seat (2 big trash bags full plus a comforter) and away I went.....okay, I do need to confess that later, when I got home, I discovered a huge pile of stuff on my bed that I had forgotten to take, so I did have a fair amount too......Anyway!  I got to go by myself to the Shreveport Rescue Mission Thrift Store as they said that they were donating anything the refugees could use now.  So I started out with my radio blaring Christian music and I felt this niggling in my mind.....so I shut off the radio and said, "What?  What do I need to see in all this?"  I was quite amazed that there was barely space to see out my back window.  How could a person let so much stuff pile up?  There was stuff she didn't even remember, stuff that hadn't fit in a very long time, and yet there it was.  And she has so little space left unoccupied in her house that she has her old entertainment center in the hallway to store more STUFF.  And then I saw it!  I hold onto STUFF too, stuff I think I can't live without; it's mine!  And when I do that....I miss blessing others, I miss being blessed, I miss being free!  Ouch!!  Got it!  So now, as I hunt for things to donate, I'm hunting my heart as well for things that really don't need to be there and are just in the way of more important things, the things God has waiting for me when I'm willing to let go and let God.