PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A PICTURE to commemorate the occasion of parting with a couple of my old sweaters that I hung onto for so long.
My purple sweater was one I had for sure 30 years as I wore it to my Mom's 60th Birthday party and she is now 90 1/2 years old. It still fits and is in very good shape. It went to Goodwill yesterday. Said good-bye to this vintage thing that needs a different home.
The other sweater I parted with was purchased from a thrift store for one dollar when I was a Senior in High School. So I'd say that was a good 50 years ago that I got it and no telling how old it was before I got it.
50 years I had it. Are you kidding me and I still wore the sweater. Did I get my money's worth or WHAT?
Between the two sweaters alone, they represented at least 80 years. That one makes me blink. 80 years! WHAT A HOOT. The sweaters were both wearable and in great condition so why did I decide to turn loose of these two that I had neatly folded and stashed in my sweater drawers not bothering anyone? Would it be acceptable to say because it was TIME? That's a joke.
Moving right along.
I'm morphing into a minimalist right before my eyes very, very, very slowly. This transformation is extremely slow. The changing of the guards is a ritual that took years to perfect. My change is taking place. Perhaps, I will begin picking up speed and not drag my feet anymore. I don't have to be so cautious as to what to keep and what to give away. Yes, I shouldn't be reckless, but the pace needs to speed up. Life is passing me by. I'm not getting any younger, am I?
THIS PAST WEEK, I purged some sweaters, clothing, coats, purses, leather shoes, clogs because they didn't fit, beautiful framed pictures, books, old vinyls, glassware, dishes, toys, I forget what all else there was. They are gone. No longer my property. My Husband is a MASTER when it comes to packing things in the car. I don't know how he managed to get all the STUFF in our little PT Cruiser, but he managed. If we had taken a picture of the load from the side of the car then you would have seen the depth of this mess. Crammed full. The cruiser's back seats fold down and the car becomes a small pick-up for us.
I drove the car to GOODWILL, parked the car in their donation driveway as a helper came out to take it ALL away in two of their large carts. Two. Everything went except a beautiful light fixture. This will go to GOD's STOREHOUSE later. They accept light fixtures as this GOODWILL didn't.
I sure could have used the great Wizard of Oz especially this past week. If we had his help, he could have pulled some levers on his switch board from behind the curtain and made all of this mess just vanish before we loaded up. Better yet, he could have made our stash not be there in the first place. No mess just blessed. I could have visited with him asking for a completely clean and orderly HOME that didn't need a thing done to it. In his great wisdom he could have restructured my brain and heart so it wasn't bogged down by being so emotionally attached to THINGS. No clutter my dear.
There is no Wizard of OZ except in the story books and movies. I need real help now and that comes from the LORD. He's real. I have been praying for help and a change of heart toward having too much stuff. Having a changed heart will do miracles. Taking a mess and making it orderly is a godly thing to imitate. Not being fearful.
As I drove away, I was slightly relieved that this STUFF is now GONE. I kept saying, WE DID IT! We managed to rummage through things in our house and basement, Carriage House, Cottage Storage Shed, and Cottage to get rid of. WE PURGED.
I'll rest a while then I'll be back at purging some more. I don't need this and I don't need that. It's amazing how little we really do need to have a functioning HOME to live in. At this stage in LIFE, I'd like to be set free of clutter and have less to clean.
When I visited with one of my Mom's neighbors, I was blessed to see how clean her apartment was. It was impressive to me how she had managed her HOME. I'd like to be more like this. I was this way as a young mother that was a stay at HOME wife and mom.
Our little house wasn't crammed full of things and we managed nicely. True, I am way older than I was when I was 20. It is hard work for me to declutter. First there's the having to decide what to get rid of and cutting loose of the attachment to the thing, then there's the loading it into the car to get rid of and actually parting with it. It's physical as well as emotional. I still can have some sentimental items just not as much.
It may sound silly, but after the things are parted with, there's that thought of I shouldn't have turned loose of that because I will probably need it sometime in the future. These thoughts have to be cast down. I don't have to be held in bondage especially by things. Be gone, in Jesus name and that's that. There's so much more to life than these things. Life goes on and so must I. There's a better way to live and be alive than tied down to junk and a messy house.
Like Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz, I want to go HOME. It wasn't a bump on my head that made me think There's no place like HOME.
~d
