There are “throwers” and then there are “savers”. I am thinking that somewhere in between the two would be the ideal place to land. However, I am far more in the saver category, and it causes me to have a lot of stuff. Unfortunately I am married to someone who also is a keeper of stuff. Put our two stashes together, both inside the house and outside around the farm, and it makes for too much stuff!
A few times a year I start stirring in my stuff. There is closet stuff, drawer stuff, attic stuff, and basement stuff. A couple weeks ago I spent some hours in the basement just sorting paint. Did we still need this can or that? What color was it anyway? Did it even make a sound when I shook the can? It gave me a good feeling when I completed that task, and I even found a great color to use for a project that needed paint!
When I begin looking through stuff, I try to make three piles. One for keeping, one for give away, and one for throw away. Then I take the keeping pile, and it is separated into the good stuff and the “not so good stuff”. I stuff the latter anywhere the stuff is not too crowded, until I decide if I will need it….or until I begin stirring in it again.
When the Lord calls me home, my children will want the good stuff, but the bad stuff (stuffed wherever there is room among all the other stuff) will be stuffed in bags and taken to the dump where all the other people’s stuff has been taken.
This past week brought our children and grandchildren home to visit. They brought bags of stuff, so I moved some of my stuff so they could spread out and have room for their visit. When I go visit them, they do the same. We have to be careful to keep our stuff separated into our own piles. Sometimes I think it would be easier to leave my stuff at home and use their stuff when I go!
Once I do some cleaning and sorting, it is fun to create some extra room to store more good stuff. Or a place to put the stuff that is too bad to put with the good stuff! You may not have this problem, but I spend a lot of time with stuff: good stuff, cleaning stuff, medicine stuff, cooking stuff, clothes stuff, and outside stuff. I wonder what life would be like if we didn’t have all this stuff?
Some of my friends and children tell me I would not be in this predicament if we moved more often. I would not have kept all this stuff and hauled it from place to place. They are probably right, however I would have most likely just started over with new stuff! After all, there is stuff we use to make us feel good…look good…smell good. Stuff to make us feel healthier. Stuff to hold us in and then some to fill us out. There is stuff to read, stuff to play with, stuff to entertain us, and stuff to eat. Sometimes we even stuff ourselves with the food stuff.
Yes, our lives are filled with stuff. Good stuff, not so good stuff, useful stuff, junky stuff, and other people’s stuff. The crazy thing is that someday we will leave all of our stuff. Whatever happens to our stuff won’t matter at all to us. What will be important is that our hearts are uncluttered with the attitude of love. If we have spent our days worshipping and delighting in our God, the good stuff of heaven will be waiting for us as God has promised!
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