Clean House-LET IT GO!

This afternoon I watched one of my favorite shows Clean House. If you've never watched it, let me tell you about it. A group of four people go to a cluttered house and convince the owners to clean up and get rid of junk. Most of the people have way TOO possessions and do not want to get rid of things. During the show the home owners are convinced to clean out their house and have a giant yard sale in order for the group to repair and buy a few nice things for the home. There are usually some tears and anger on the part of the homeowners who do not want to give up anything even in order to get something so much better. In each case the end result is a nice NEAT non cluttered home with a few new things to take the place of all the junk that was there before.

It's a great show and each time I watch it (thank God for DVRs) I have this uncontrollable urge to clean out my house. Now you all that know me KNOW I don't do clutter. I'm a bit obsessive about my house being clean and free of clutter. Only the fact that I have 3 kids gives me any clutter. I have rules in my house and the number 1 rule is: If you haven't used/worn/played with or needed it for 6 months, it needs to go!! I take stuff to thrift stores or give things away or throw them away on a regular basis. My husband would be a pack rat if I let him but he does appreciate a clean house, he just can't keep it that way. So today after watching the show, I had to clean out all my kitchen drawers. I felt so much better afterwards. There is probably a mental condition for me and my obsessiveness...but at least my house is clean and orderly most of the time!

I teach the kids to hold on lightly to possessions. "It's ok to have stuff but don't let stuff have you" The kids are good at giving up stuff to others (except for getting rid of real animals). I really try and teach them that they didn't bring anything into this world ( I was there and can attest to that!) and they can't take anything with them.

I see so many people that hold on so tightly to their possessions, homes, cars, jewelry etc. It's sad to me. I can think of several people that are bound by their possessions. I think for some people possessions define to themselves who they are. My aunt that raised me, lived during the depression. She and her sisters owned so much stuff. Our house was so cluttered. When she died and I inherited the house, it took us weeks of going through and throwing things away or giving them away. There were things still in boxes, never used that we just gave away. She didn't take anything with her but for years, those things comforted her. I know a family that lost a loved one and has kept all her stuff and the lady that died was a pack rat herself. Whew - they fill their houses and garages and spend money on storage units to keep stuff. They have so much stuff they don't even know what they have! It's crazy! Sometimes I can hear in someone voice when they talk about "my house, My car my my my "
It's weird but when the word MY is repeatedly emphasised, I'm ususally thinking "This person is too into their stuff" Without fail, I tend to be right (in my opinion) The person usually has a garage/shed full of junk they don't need and they hold way too tight to the things they do need. I was in a car wreck and the person I hit (it was her fault for pulling out) kept crying about "her car". It was new and she obviously loved it. I could have cared less about my car, I was so grateful MY kids and I were still alive. I knew we'd get something else to replace it and as long as it had a/c I didn't care!1 We ended up getting a better van than the one that got hit!

Probably because of how I was raised in junk and clutter, is why I like things clean and clutter free! I was a psychology minor myself! Possessions have never meant much to me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to invite 30 little kids to jump on my furniture and rip it up. But if I no longer have a use for something, it's time for it to go. We've moved so many times in our life and ministry that I've been forced to keep things to a minimal, now it's just a lifestyle. I could box up my entire house in a day or less and be ready to go. When we just had one child, sometimes I'd buy him junk toys, you know what I mean. Well those days are so gone. Not only do I not have the money to do that, with 3 kids, you can't do that! And forget Happy Meal toys! First I usually don't buy a Happy Meal cuz I can buy some hamburgers and one fry for them to share and they can get a drink at home! But in the rare times I do buy something like that, the toy doesn't leave the restaurant! I really try to think when buying the kids Christmas or Bday presents about what I'm buying. I'd rather buy a few quality gifts than a bunch of junk for them. This is something I've really learned in the past few years with 3 kids. Kids do better with fewer toys. They seem to play with them more and appreciate them more.

So when I say I'm not into possessions, I don't mean it pridefully ( I hope I don't) but I really do try to remember that this world is not my home, I'm only passing through. I think in this day and age we have so much stuff in the here and now, our gaze is not upwards but it's on this earth and the things of this world. Now I am not some weird person who lives like the Amish or worse but I do think we Christians tend to get caught up too much in this world and its' things. The older Christians used to sing about heaven and that was to be their reward "I'm satisfied with just a cottage below, a little silver and a little gold but in that city where the ramsoned will shine, I'll have a robe a harp and a crown, I've got a mansion just over the hilltop..." Nowadays Christians demand that God gives them a mansion here, a Lexus and lots of gold and silver...Something just doesn't seem right about that.

Anyhow after watching that show, it really has some spiritual insights. So often we hold on to junk even though God wants us to get rid of it so He can do something beautiful in our lives. But we want the junk, we can't see beyond our situation to understand what God can do for us if we just LET IT GO! In some shows, there is such a battle for some particular object, that the group gives up on tearing that object away from the family and instead of the family getting something nice in its' place, they have to settle for less. One story they tried to get an old junky useless juck box from this guy. If they could sell it in the yardsale, they would redo a room for him and give him a big screen tv, but he wouldn't let it go so he had to settle for less. It looked so silly to see a grown man holding onto junk when he could have had so much more.

LET IT GO!!

So if you have things you need to give to God or things you need to give to Goodwill LET IT GO you'll be so much more happier!

ps. If you need me to come in and help you clean your clutter, I'd love to :) I've done that for a few friends but I am BRUTAL!!!! Get rid of the foolishness and mayhem!!