There are two seasons of life: collecting and dispersing. When we get married, bridal shower gifts and wedding presents give us a jump on creating a new home. Then as we travel through the years, we move to bigger digs and eventually add children. Along with them comes a new volume of equipment, and all of it needs space. Children grow, we age, and the pile-up of years can pile up enough possessions to threaten our sanity.
Every once in a while it’s good to take inventory, but most of us are too busy until it’s time to down-size. And suddenly we have a problem.
Because it took four years for our family to sell our big, old house, I had plenty of time to condense our stuff. The first year I set a goal to eliminate 1/3rd or every drawer, cabinet and closet as preparation for the move.
The second year I did it again, this time stretching for half of everything. Storage began to loosen up, and it felt better than going on a diet and losing weight.
More reducing was necessary to squeeze two houses into one, and now, two years later, I’m at it again. We’ve still got too much furniture in our small home, so I’ve made plans to ditch the largest piece, a big china hutch.
This cabinet has housed my beloved collection of glass items for 25 years, and in order to send it out the front door, I needed to eliminate more than half of what it held.
And it was much harder than I thought.
I struggled to decide what to let go of and needed some standard by which to measure each piece’s value, not in dollars but in sentiment. I decided to get rid of everything that wasn’t linked to someone special.
The process wasn’t easy, but that was an excellent reason to do it. I love my glass, but it was glass-gluttony for sure. No one person needs all I had. Scripture tells us to hold our possessions lightly and continually acknowledge that all of it is God’s blessing. Our stuff finds ownership in him.
Jesus told the story of a man who did so well at accumulating, he had to build bigger buildings to hold it all. The result was an identity in what he owned and an inflated opinion of his own importance. Because of those two things, Jesus labeled him “a fool.”
The Lord challenges us to find our riches in a bond with him. People say, “You can’t take it with you,” which is true of all earthly assets. But we can take the Lord’s relationship with us when we die.
And that’s the one possession I’ll never eliminate.
“Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:15,21)
Getting rid of stuff is not easy.I have some things I have not used in years,but still can’t seem to let go of them.Like you,my relationship with the Lord is one thing I never want to get rid of.
I can imagine… I’m not waiting for this June when I have to move for my first time to Jonathan and mine place… I know I have to much things 🙂
My father in law has two garages full of stuff We call them the garage-ma-hall south and north. Each has a small path that goes in and out but other than the path, the buildings are packed to the ceiling with “stuff” all of which is to “precious” for him to toss out. I have cautioned my husband about turning into a pack a holic, the day he does, he will return to find the garage “organized”. Far better for us to lay up treasure in Heaven than on earth. Go for it Margaret purge away! Your children will someday be grateful for your forsight.
We had a family member who left us three (3) houses to clean out. My goal is to give my children very little to deal with in terms of our possessions. Just need to get started.
This was an encouragement to me today, as we have begun the first purging. It is harder on some of our kids than others, but in the end I believe they will be thankful. I know how hard it is for the youngest when we talk about moving out of the only home he has known, but God is good and will provide.
I appreciate your sharing this, Margaret; I, too, am getting rid of some things I’ve collected, invested in, enjoyed, but…my children are not interested in….and they are just ‘things’. I really believe when we focus on our relationship with the Lord, He….lets us know – as we grow – when it’s time to ‘let go of the things of the past’…to enjoy the NOW! It’s a part of ‘being set free’…!! God truly does – provide our every NEED.