Seeing Beyond the “Stuff”
May 25, 2013
Last week, I shared about our upcoming move to Tennessee. The first thing we had to do when we found out we were relocating was get our house here ready to sell. That involved a lot of gathering and sorting and boxing things we needed to donate or trash. Since we moved here in 2006, our daughter completed Kindergarten through 6th grade and our son went through 9th grade and three years of college. In other words, we’ve accumulated a lot of “stuff”.
So in January of this year, we began in the basement and worked our way up to and through the bedrooms. Within a couple of weeks we had organized our entire existence – the clutter was gone! It felt like the house took a deep breath and smiled. I even had empty shelves in my linen closet! Shortly after that we put it on the market and it sold! We were very grateful the buyers were willing to wait until school was out to make settlement so we didn’t have to find temporary housing here.
Then we started back “living” in the house, meaning that since we weren’t showing the property to potential buyers, we didn’t keep it quite as neat or organized. And needless to say, here we are a few months later right back where we were – cluttered. The empty spaces in my linen closet are crammed with bath cloths and towels. Even those neat stacks of boxes in my basements have been ransacked because I just had to have a certain book or a photograph or some teaching notes, etc.
It’s hard to stay disciplined here in the “land between”. My days seem to fluctuate wildly between so much to do I can’t catch my breath to having so little to do, I’m at loose ends. “The worst enemy of enthusiasm is time” is an absolute true statement. (John Piper) I was so sure I would be able to keep my house in order but as time dragged, so did my grand ambitions of being the most efficient packer and mover of all time. There’s not an award for that anyway.
So to keep myself on track and semi-disciplined, here’s what I have been doing during my journey through the land between. Every day I jot down one thought, one verse or one quote and I take it with me through the day. Here’s a recent example from the gospel of Matthew.
“Come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
The day I read that verse I was flying back to Pennsylvania from Tennessee where I had been working on our next house – the one we are building that isn’t cluttered….yet. It made me think about how consumed I had been with a house to sell and a house to build and how much work all that is – especially in two states! But then I pondered how much effort God made to give me a heavenly home.
All these decisions, these stops and starts in between, can distract me from my real purpose – heading HOME.
Perspective is everything. This week, practice looking beyond the clutter. (ct)
“But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.” Philippians 3:20