Cleaning the Closets in my House & my Heart

I write to you today for the first time from our new home! It has been a long weekend of moving, unpacking, and sweating, but we are finally here and settled quite nicely. The whole moving process has been one odd roller coaster of emotions after another. At first, I was feeling nostalgic and emotional: the house we left was a sweet place that we had grown to love and embrace as our home. We brought both of our boys home from the hospital there, and celebrated many a joyful occasion within those walls. Eventually, however, after packing box after box after box (after box!) and still feeling as if I was getting no where with the overall move, the nostalgia started to give way to frustration and a desire to just get it all over with! Eventually, I settled on a nice balance somewhere between the two (it always comes back to balance, doesn’t it?). I am relieved that the move is over, but I also look back on our previous home with fond memories and nostalgia.

Moving has forced me to face a really huge life reality, though: I have too much stuff! Hear me out. Stuff is good. I like stuff! But when you have more shoes than room in your shoe racks, or clothes that you haven’t worn in over 3 years still taking up closet space, then it’s time to clean house! It was amazing to me during the moving process how my requirements for what stayed and what got packed up for charity kept getting more and more streamlined. I’d keep something the first time through, but by the second or third pass, I had realized I didn’t really need it after all. I don’t even really miss those things that I get rid of, because I never even knew some of them were in my closet to begin with! There’s a certain freedom that comes with clearing out your living space. No clutter, no confusion, just those things that you need, all in their place.

This is more than just a home organizational tip, by the way. Clearing out your space will do something for your sense of being. It’s amazing how freeing your space of clutter can lead to a clarity of mind, as well. The small things fade into the background, and what emerges is the important, principle values: God, family, and love. All the other stresses just won’t be missed.

Today, take inventory of your home. Do you need to make some space in both your closet and your heart? Let God lead you as you set about organizing, not just your shoes, but your mind, as well. Life becomes clearer, brighter, and more full of purpose when we go through our list of “necessities” and realize that, in the end, there are actually very few things that are “must haves.” I pray peace and clarity for each of you today!