Pappy and I have been married over thirty-six years.
Thirty-four of those years, we've spent in the same home.
Over those three decades, plus four.....
we've accumulated an enormous amount of stuff.
We've had yard sales over the years.....
but still there was way too much junk in our home.
I'm not sure what happened, but I just got really sick of it.
So, about a month ago.....I started cleaning out.
I have NEVER gotten rid of stuff like this.
I'm not exaggerating.....
but, I think I've taken to the thrift store.....
and given to our church.....
close to twenty bags of clutter.
That's embarrassing to even admit.....
that I allowed our home to get that cluttered.
Somebody asked why I don't have another yard sale.
I just felt God telling me to bless others with what He has blessed us with!
It seems that with each bag I fill up.....
something just releases within me, too.
It's like I'm not only cleaning out my home....
but I'm also decluttering my heart and mind!!!
Ecclesiastes 3:1,6b
For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
Breathing in Jesus,
Deb
Deb, I am so excited for you and this de-cluttering process you are going through. And I am also in awe of how God has brought us together so I can share this with you. At the beginning of 2012 the Lord began dealing with me about the same thing! At that point we'd been married 40 years...and I had "downsized" some when we moved from our home of 20 years to our current location 14 years ago, but I'd accumulated probably more stuff than I'd given away all those years ago. Anyway...I began filling up boxes and bags with "stuff"...that is what it had become to me...just "stuff". We did choose to have a yard sale to see if any of it would sell, so I priced everything as I went along. It took me 4 months to go through everything because I also went through everything in the attic. We had our first yard sale and some of the things sold, for which I was glad. We had our second yard sale two months later and very little sold. It was at that point that I donated or gave away to people who could actually use it. You are so correct, my friend, about how each time you give something away you feel lighter inside yourself! STUFF bogs us down and the more we purge the STUFF the more room there is for Jesus to work in our lives. I have NEVER EVER been a minimalist...but after this I understand the blessing of it! Thank you for being honest here and sharing with us how the Lord has been working in your life!
ReplyDeleteIt feels good to get rid of it doesn't it!?!
ReplyDeleteYou could have a Yard Sale and all items are free. Have Walmart bags and let people load up. They will feel like they got really lucky and you will be blessed for sharing!
{{hugs}}
<><
I know what you mean about that feeling of freeing yourself from all the clutter. The reward is not just space in our home that we gsin from this.
ReplyDelete