I am suffering from the "too manys"
Too many clothes
Too many toys
Too many books
Too many cds
Too many movies
Too many coats
You name it, whatever it is, If I have it, then I have too many of it!
Yes, even too many scrapbook supplies! (Yea, duh, huh ladies?!)
I am sick with the "too manys" and the problem is my kids have caught the "too manys", too, from me! It is highly contagious.
I have been reading a book by Deborah Taylor-Hough called A Simple Choice. (Nick read the title and asked if the simple choice was Jesus! ..well Yes, really, it is.)
Although I am not going to start grinding wheat to bake my bread or wear second hand Birkenstocks, so much of what Taylor-Hough says has resonated with a chord inside me.
As I venture out more - cyberwise - into the international community - especially of poorer nations - as I learn about adoption...when I lift my head back up and trip over the "to many" cluttering my home, I am much more aware of it. And it is painful.
My reaction is to go on a "clutter clutter everywhere" verbal rampage, when I should be chagrined. It is my fault. Do not rant about what I allow or worse yet, promote!
Lord, forgive me...was I blind? Now I see.
I have been disturbed by my clutter and disorganization for a couple years (my too many books on the shelf regarding "living the simple life" and "how to get organized", testifies to that.) Temporarily I will make a slight foray into a fragmentary declutter frenzy, but...
not deep enough,
not long enough..
not aware enough.
Not willing to give up enough.
No more.
I am embarrassed of the expectation and desire of excess and the habit of "too manys".
In the interesting words of Dash from The Incredibles: "When every one is special, then that means no one is."As for people, I would disagree with Dash, God has the unlimited and profound ability to make us all special. BUT, I would apply Dash's concept to stuff. When you have the too manys, most things lose value and mean nothing.
So, although it may appear I am at the point that I have been to a few times before in the past couple years, I think it is different. It feels different.
Sometimes change may be over night and immediate, but for me, most times, it is in layers, gradual, progressive- an ever changing process.
So I have made progress and steps before - but I see I have far, far to go and now is the time!
One woman, who works in an HR job in Ca wrote that simplicity to her meant free time on the weekends to enjoy live..which means simple meals, simple clothes, simple hair, simple make-up...etc. She writes she was tired of coming home from work and eating dinner late, doing mounds of laundry and spending weekends shopping and running errands all the time.
Amen to that. and I would add, tripping over the too manys on the floor. I never get to sit in the chair in my bedroom because it has a mound of clean laundry to be hung or put away...always! How many pairs of jeans does one mom need??? (I would guess i have 8 or more...too many!)
SO, sitting her the task seems daunting. Where do I start? How? Do I pick the messiest spot? The easiest? The most visible?
The hard part is letting go of the too manys. I mean much of it is good stuff--(you know George Carlin and his stuff routine?)...and you hate to see it just be thrown away, but I cannot do a garage sale...the opposite of simple. So Goodwill here I come.
I will let you know how I progress. I hope I will be as ruthless as I really want to be. I want to have this all resolved and dealt with before I bring our new daughter home.
Taylor-Hough says "uncluttering our lives in all areas can bring tremendous joy by helping us find an uncluttered spirit as well as an uncluttered home." I imagine so. I hope so.
So I am ashamed of excess and affluenza, and tired of moving it around or organizing it....so Lord help me, let's cure it.
Lord, I am sorry and ashamed of the too manys. When so many have nothing or very little..and you have blessed me and provided for me and my children-I have wasted and wallowed in excess. Change me..help me to change and to change my children. Inoculate us from the excess disease of our culture--unwrap us from all the stuff. It is late for me to wake up and realize this..so much you could have used for your kingdom purposes. I am sorry. Show me the steps to turn this around and even, at this late date, make a difference with my little ones. I don't want the "too manys" anymore.
Amen...
Too many clothes
Too many toys
Too many books
Too many cds
Too many movies
Too many coats
You name it, whatever it is, If I have it, then I have too many of it!
Yes, even too many scrapbook supplies! (Yea, duh, huh ladies?!)
I am sick with the "too manys" and the problem is my kids have caught the "too manys", too, from me! It is highly contagious.
I have been reading a book by Deborah Taylor-Hough called A Simple Choice. (Nick read the title and asked if the simple choice was Jesus! ..well Yes, really, it is.)
Although I am not going to start grinding wheat to bake my bread or wear second hand Birkenstocks, so much of what Taylor-Hough says has resonated with a chord inside me.
As I venture out more - cyberwise - into the international community - especially of poorer nations - as I learn about adoption...when I lift my head back up and trip over the "to many" cluttering my home, I am much more aware of it. And it is painful.
My reaction is to go on a "clutter clutter everywhere" verbal rampage, when I should be chagrined. It is my fault. Do not rant about what I allow or worse yet, promote!
Lord, forgive me...was I blind? Now I see.
I have been disturbed by my clutter and disorganization for a couple years (my too many books on the shelf regarding "living the simple life" and "how to get organized", testifies to that.) Temporarily I will make a slight foray into a fragmentary declutter frenzy, but...
not deep enough,
not long enough..
not aware enough.
Not willing to give up enough.
No more.
I am embarrassed of the expectation and desire of excess and the habit of "too manys".
In the interesting words of Dash from The Incredibles: "When every one is special, then that means no one is."As for people, I would disagree with Dash, God has the unlimited and profound ability to make us all special. BUT, I would apply Dash's concept to stuff. When you have the too manys, most things lose value and mean nothing.
So, although it may appear I am at the point that I have been to a few times before in the past couple years, I think it is different. It feels different.
Sometimes change may be over night and immediate, but for me, most times, it is in layers, gradual, progressive- an ever changing process.
So I have made progress and steps before - but I see I have far, far to go and now is the time!
One woman, who works in an HR job in Ca wrote that simplicity to her meant free time on the weekends to enjoy live..which means simple meals, simple clothes, simple hair, simple make-up...etc. She writes she was tired of coming home from work and eating dinner late, doing mounds of laundry and spending weekends shopping and running errands all the time.
Amen to that. and I would add, tripping over the too manys on the floor. I never get to sit in the chair in my bedroom because it has a mound of clean laundry to be hung or put away...always! How many pairs of jeans does one mom need??? (I would guess i have 8 or more...too many!)
SO, sitting her the task seems daunting. Where do I start? How? Do I pick the messiest spot? The easiest? The most visible?
The hard part is letting go of the too manys. I mean much of it is good stuff--(you know George Carlin and his stuff routine?)...and you hate to see it just be thrown away, but I cannot do a garage sale...the opposite of simple. So Goodwill here I come.
I will let you know how I progress. I hope I will be as ruthless as I really want to be. I want to have this all resolved and dealt with before I bring our new daughter home.
Taylor-Hough says "uncluttering our lives in all areas can bring tremendous joy by helping us find an uncluttered spirit as well as an uncluttered home." I imagine so. I hope so.
So I am ashamed of excess and affluenza, and tired of moving it around or organizing it....so Lord help me, let's cure it.
Lord, I am sorry and ashamed of the too manys. When so many have nothing or very little..and you have blessed me and provided for me and my children-I have wasted and wallowed in excess. Change me..help me to change and to change my children. Inoculate us from the excess disease of our culture--unwrap us from all the stuff. It is late for me to wake up and realize this..so much you could have used for your kingdom purposes. I am sorry. Show me the steps to turn this around and even, at this late date, make a difference with my little ones. I don't want the "too manys" anymore.
Amen...
1 Things Others Said:
Amen and amen!!
Debbie
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