I have thought in the past that I lived a fairly simple life. Lately I have started to realize that this is far from true! My life is anything but simple.
People have such a tendency to hold on to things. We save everything from old magazines and expired coupons to clothing that has a sentimental value. (And probably doesn't fit anymore!)We find birthday cards from people we don't see or hear from anymore stuck in the back of the desk. How about books that have pages missing or puzzles and games whose pieces have been missing for several months or maybe even years? Did I mention the endless supply of happy meal toys? Life becomes so complex, not to mention messy, when we hold on to so many worthless things.
Ever since I moved to this house almost 5 years ago, I have been throwing away things. I started by having all of our boxes put in the garage. (except for the necessary items we needed for living such as clothes, dishes etc.) I went through the boxes one by one purposing to throw away or give away at least half of what was in the box. For the past two Novembers, I have gone through the toy room and given away at least 1/3 of the toys. (The kids have so many that they never play with!) I also have been going through our clothes. Anything that doesn't get worn, no matter how nice it is, gets sent to Good Will. Now I am going through each room with 3 bags. One for trash, one for Good Will, and one to be put away in its proper place.
I have a long way to go still, but slowly I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. My goal is to have a peaceful house without a lot of clutter. I want my family to be able to enjoy living here instead of trying to ignore the mess that rears it's head so often.
Something I need to remind my family and myself of time and time again is that We can't take it with us! The only things that we need to hold onto are those things that hold eternal value! Things like building relationships within our family. Cutting out the movies to play a game with our spouse instead. Or building our knowledge by reading God's Word and other wholesome books.
I want to lead a simple life. A life that has one purpose ~ To glorify God in all that I do.
2 comments:
Amen Bev. I have been feeling the same way lately. I really desire to simplify my life also. Too many things just take too much time and energy away from the things that really matter. God bless you and give you the energy to complete your goal.
I'm a bad one with cards! Otherwise, I love to throw stuff away..really. My husband, even though he doesn't like clutter either, gets a little perturbed by how quickly and readily I throw things away. I find though, even with my strange love of "de-cluttering" that it's an ongoing process, never once and done. I feel like there's always a "pile" waiting to go somewhere. It must be a part of living in America.
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