This week, Cheri Gregory came to our MOPS group to talk
about getting rid of the clutter in our lives. With a title like, “50 Ways to
Leave Your Clutter: Go On and Ditch that Lyin’ Cheatin’ Back-Stabbin’ Stuff for
Good,” I knew our MOPS group was in for a great morning. I was expecting to
hear some interesting organizational tips on how to tidy up, but it was so much
more. Not only did Cheri give us great tips on de-cluttering, but she also gave
our hearts a deep cleaning by getting to the root of letting stuff go.
There were so many great things I learned from Cheri, but the
one thing that resonated with me the most was when she asked us to finish the sentence:
“I have so
many/much ____ in my house/garage that ______.”
Then she asked us to finish: “With more open space, I could…”
I have a tendency to create piles. The piles consist of
pictures my kids have drawn, papers from kindergarten, and catalogs/mail I
think I’ll look at in the future. Sometimes it’s a laundry basket of clothes
that won’t get folded for a really loooong time. My husband is very neat and
tidy, and every now and then he politely hates on my tower of junk. Now, I
could claim to really, really be embracing our MOPS theme and hand him the
lovely laminated card, complete with our theme verse that Cheri gave us, but
that would be kind of lame. The truth is, I would love a house with less
clutter.
So, to fill in the blanks of Cheri’s sentence, I would say: I have so many piles of junk in my
house that it makes my husband (and myself) miserable.
After our MOPS meeting, I was wired (thanks to the rockin’
coffee from the hospitality team)& inspired to conquer the pile of papers
that took up a third of my dining room table. It’s been there since Christmas. I
realized this when I found the left over Christmas cards at the bottom of the
pile.
As I went through all the little papers on my dining room
table, Cheri’s questions ran through my mind. Why do I still have this? Ulta catalog with expired coupon…chuck
it. Am I hanging on to this because of
guilt? I love you, sweet son, but this 40th drawing of Sonic the
Hedgehog has to go. Am I really a
_______er? Couponer? No. Goodbye Redplum coupon book. Has that season of my life passed? Old Christmas cards? Yes,
Christmas passed 3 months ago. Into the garbage you go!
The final result was beautiful! Check it out:
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I forgot to take a before picture, but if you must
know…it looked something like this:
Now, the dining room table was my warm-up. My husband and I
are starting to feel like our family is complete. My youngest son will be 4 in
June. We have a garage full of baby stuff we’ll no longer need, and it’s
tempting to hang on to the things my boys used during their first precious
years of life. BUT, how awesome would
it be to have a clean garage? So, now I can ask myself, “Am I holding on to make my life the way it used to be?” “Am I hanging
on to this because of what it once cost me?” & “Has this season of my life
passed?” I am ready to take on the baby stuff, and I will remind myself
that I am not feeling empty; I am feeling
spacious.
You make me proud and get me inspired to tackle more of the 34 years of marriage piles and collection!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe longer you are married, the more years you have of "packratting" and "collecting" not only for myself but for the KIDS! Many chapters of my life have come and still linger. They are the many "Connie" hats I have worn, or aspired to wear...and I see how they are like many weights that keep me from going to new places of creativity and love and service.
Not to guilt myself.....but I am making a resolution to clear out at least one little part each day. Look out Modesto trash and Good will, here come 34 years of collection...