I just want to sigh.
This streamlined, simplified closet with the entire wardrobe color integrated and interchangeable, does my heart good. Thanks to Staci Gerardi of November Sunflower for this peaceful image!
To me this image epitomizes simplicity. And frugality. Less is More.
The 3rd week of this Lenten season has focused on Simplicity: Less Stuff/More Freedom
This week I have been silent here. Not because I haven’t had anything to write about. I have been dealing with myself before God.
I hang on. I struggle with letting go. Stuff holds memories. What happens to the memories if I let go of the stuff?
Having Stuff also represents other false selves: wealth, status, security. Stuff can serve to insulate us from our inner life which might be too painful to deal with. Stuff can distract from relationships.
Stuff owns us; not the other way around.
SO this week I went through each cupboard, closet, drawer, shelf and bin removing stuff that no longer serves a purpose in my life. Some landed in the trash, some went specifically to other people whom I thought might be blessed by an item, and most went to Mission Thrift, a local store I like to support.
There is so much more to do. But I began the physical process.
Now about the spiritual process. I faced fears I didn’t realize I had: what if I need that? What if we can’t financially replace that? What if one of the kids wanted that? (least likely issue by the way!) What if by not having that item I forget? (I’m forgetting a lot more these days anyway…both wisdom and forgetfulness arrived with gray hair!)
I hear the Lord speaking to me in His Word: “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that passes all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4: 6-7) And over a few more pages: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18)
So I give away the fears, the stuff and give thanks to the One who originally provided the means to receive the stuff in the first place and Who knows my every real need and will provide for me all the Way until I see Him face to face.
Less Stuff/More Freedom
Amen and Amen