The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is inside of you when you are born again through him. You may not be walking on water, walking through walls, raising the dead, or giving sight to the blind man, but you have power inside of you to tackle tough things. To change. The ambition and ability to get things done will rise up inside of you.
Right now the parting of the Red Sea in my life is in the down sizing and turning loose of stuff. Putting order where it is needed is a GODLY characteristic. I do not need to fear what I am going through. The drive to tackle all the messes in the house, downsizing and remodeling a much smaller living habitat are what I am challenged with right now in my life.
Yesterday, I tackled sorting through piles of old magazines I still have in my possession. Only a few will go with me when I begin living in the COTTAGE. For the present, I am keeping my VICTORIA magazines and TEA TIME. I have downsized big time compared to what I had. Oh my goodness, have I downsized the mags.
I am a magazine junkie that has slowly done away with years of Martha Stewart LIVING Magazines, COUNTRY LIVING, COUNTRY HOME, TRADITIONAL HOME, BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS, THIS OLD HOUSE, SOUTHERN LIVING, TASTE OF HOME...etc.
A small achievement to some, but a huge, most difficult one for me. For having some kind of fetish or addiction to magazines, I had so many old magazines piled in stacks just waiting for someone to read them. Oh my goodness. I have changed for the better. I could have given them to Nursing Homes or Grade School teachers for their classes to cut out pretty pictures for art projects. Or given them to some organization like Scouts to make gifts out of them. Wrapping paper or something. That jogs my memory.
It sounds stupid to me now to be so attached to paper and ink. When I parted with MARTHA a few years ago, I told myself, "Self, these magazines are not sacred." Not sacred. Get rid of them and be SET FREE OF THIS BONDAGE that has a hold on you. So I gathered up years worth of old Marthas and donated to Thrift Shop then pitched the rest. The day I actually trashed so many magazines was life changing. I did it! and have more to do.
Decent article about donating old magazines to others:
https://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/donate-magazines.html
There have been times I thought I could have sold them. I have let that go. If any money would have come from these old magazines, it wouldn't have been worth all the years I had put into hoarding them. They've taken up space in my HOME for years. I don't believe I would have made that much money to make it worth the hassle of even messing with it. Let it go. Clearing out and cleaning up the space is better use of LIFE.
I seldom (and I do mean seldom) went back through the magazines getting ideas for present day living. Can I say I felt a ton of weight lifted from my shoulders when I turned loose of them? No. The answer is no. I don't miss the paper and ink, but I did not feel empowered. Perhaps later I will. I'm still processing that I hung on to so much stuff for reasons I don't know of. Something was broken in me, but the LORD has mended this patch work of emotions I had attached to magazines. He has set me free of the junk.
Was I trying to have a stash of stuff on file where I could catalog what I had like a LIBRARY or a Museum? No. So why was I hanging onto these old magazines? Not sure. Perhaps I had attached good memories to these magazines and was trying to hang onto good memories. I don't miss any of the magazines I have parted with. That's good and a step forward to being a healthier me.
Another round of turning loose of more magazines and books. Today I threw away more magazines. I came across some slightly stained books that were in our 2016 house fire. Dumped them today. They're gone.
I didn't have the energy to throw these slightly stained books away after the fire. They have sat in the corner of a room taking up space. Not once did I pick up one of these books to read or use for reference in 4 and a half years. I think I can let go now.
Has it taken me almost 5 years to deal with these? Yes. We went through so much damaged stuff after the fire that I just couldn't continue at the pace we were going to complete the entire task.
I took a long break. I am now ready to tackle this mammoth beast that hasn't disappeared from needing attention. I cannot ignore it forever or I will be a full blown hoarder with so much junk about me. I can see how hoarders get to where they are. I don't want to go there. Little by little I am getting MY ACT TOGETHER once again. I could put myself down forever, but I choose not to. Let it go. Forge ahead and be healed. Turn loose of the damaged past and be refreshed.
We are only on this planet for a short time. Our lives are like vapors. Why should I go up in smoke hanging onto old books and magazines that are not sacred? The messes have held me in a type of bondage and I desire to be more relaxed and care-free. My part in all of this is to receive peace by turning loose. Putting time and energy into more important things than being a hoarder. No fear.
SO today, I have turned loose of much. Old magazines and books trashed. Washed baby clothes in WOOLITE and air drying. Giving thought to how to decorate this lovely old house and remodel the COTTAGE at the same time.
I'm not finished with the clearing out of the storage boxes that are in the COTTAGE Master Bedroom. Tomorrow perhaps will be the day. Hubby finished digging the long flowerbed in the backyard at the COTTAGE. A huge accomplishment. Huge. He'll rototill the beds next adding extra soil and peat. Hoping to pop the Irises we have at the main house and plant at the COTTAGE in early September. This has been a lengthy ordeal. Almost completed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
A few days ago, we were at MENARDS looking at tile, flooring and marble. We noticed a very good UNadvertised special on some marble tile. We need to replace the tile that's in the entry way of the main house as it has the initial of the previous owners in the middle of the floor. 4 years we have enjoyed the black and white tile in the entry way, but the "P" has got to go. We thought about the price of the marble, took measurements, gathered up the cash and drove back to purchase the pretty marble. We loaded it in our tiny PT Cruiser and drove HOME with our purchase.
The load of marble tile was heavy to say the least. Hubby rested before unloading it from the car and placing it on a dolly to transport it from the car to the entry way.
Turning loose of things that are no longer needed in my life has been laborious and difficult for me. I have been praying for strength and discipline to do this. Not only are bad habits involved, but also a changed behavior is needed. Here I go. Another round of decluttering and turning loose.
Remember when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years? I think I have been wandering in a type of wilderness also with too much baggage and unbelief. I desire to downsize and be orderly. There is HOPE. It's called change.
One day closer to being there,
~d
UPDATE: TODAY, I worked over at the COTTAGE going through more boxes each filled with a multitude of papers. Threw away much and put a small amount of the papers I desire to still keep in one single box instead of three.
I threw away old medical papers with PAID IN FULL written across the page. Many, many bills PAID IN FULL. The thick notebook I had the bill statements in were stained from the 2016 house fire smoke. They didn't stink since they had been ozoned. Still, I needed to part with them and I did. More boxes and papers running out my ears.
I got choked up after looking at so many pictures and pages making me emotional. I still haven't cried gut wrenching sobs for all the damage the house fire did to us. It misplaced us from our house that we had been working on for 10 years making us live someplace else then where we had been. SO much was damaged and destroyed. The main thing is that no one was injured or killed. Some people say, it's just things that can be replaced. They don't take into account that these were OUR things. Our things that took years to acquire. Sacrifices made so we could have these things. Lovely gifts that loved ones gave us.
It's different when it happens to those that say it's just things. Until you have experienced loss like we did, these things are missed. So different. Insurance helped us and I'm thankful we had insurance. Many lessons were learned from this awful experience.
When we hit our 5 year anniversary in October since the fire, I am so hoping that all of the things that still need to be gone through are finally gone through. Close the book on the recovery and be at peace that GOD got us through this ordeal.
Today, did clear out the COTTAGE closet that had more old books. OK...I got the closet cleared out. The bedroom overall still has more things to deal with. It will be early September before the room is empty. Disappointed, but being realistic. It is going to take a few more days to empty out this room. Just the way it is.
Continuing to launder baby clothes in WOOLITE. Working on the clothing that are Autumn and Winter appropriate. They are darling little articles of clothing that some little girl will be wearing soon. Working on this at a speedy pace.
Between decluttering the main house and the COTTAGE that is full of things, plus laundering tiny clothing articles, I am made aware of how important it is to not hang onto so much. Stay on top of it if you can. Not sure I will be a minimalist when this is all said and done, but sure know that I am changing at lightening the load. I hope I can continue to change for the better.
I do not want to hang onto to so much paperwork, books, collections, or things now. SO I am downsizing, downsizing, downsizing. I'll be alright.
~d
