This post is part of my 31 Days of Transformation Series. To read the other posts, click the tab above.
I feel sorry for hoarders.
And I understand just a teeny bit how they might feel.
A few years ago, I volunteered to help a couple of days in our local community on a service project. Our job for the day was to paint a teenage girl's bedroom at a personal home. I was working with some good friends and we were so excited to give this adorable girl a fun, cute room. I didn't do much painting that day though.
I was totally sidetracked by what we discovered there.
Let’s just say one member of the family had a little problem
with stuff.
Now, I like to declutter and clean up messes-as long as
they don't involve bodily fluids-so I jumped right in trying to help this
person make some decisions as to what to keep and what to pitch.
I wanted to really go-to-town and turn the house inside out.
That is when I learned the “stuff” stacked everywhere was
not a spending problem. It went much deeper than that. I was not going to “fix” the problem by making the house
look the way I thought it should. This was a “heart” problem, and it about broke mine.
You know what they say, what bugs you in others probably needs to be faced in yourself.
I wrote about my own little struggle with excess here..
Something that has really helped me for the last 10 years or
so is the program Marla Cilley developed out of her own procrastinating, messy
tendencies. The whole program works great, but one component really has
become my mantra.
“If you have something that doesn't make you happy to see, bless
someone else with it.”
Those words have freed me up to haul gobs of stuff-items
that were still useful, not broken, some of it even cute-to our local mission.
With each sackful, I felt a little burden being lifted from
my shoulders and a little resolve being born to stop buying things that weren't exactly what I was looking for.
Can I get an amen?
What worked the best for me was Marla’s 25 Fling Boogie. I would set my timer for 5 minutes, grab a bag or
two and start looking for 25 things that I could either pitch or give away. I
did this every day for a month during her Super-Fling
Parties.
If you are picturing my family living in a house with empty
rooms, trust me-you would be wrong. We still have plenty-compared to most, probably even too much-stuff.
But I have learned that when my surroundings are messy, I
feel messy on the inside too. I don't want to be controlled by my physical possessions.
Fast forward a couple of hours..........
Then, as I am driving the tractor back and forth helping my husband plant wheat this morning, it hits me. I am no different than the woman we tried to help.
It is a heart problem for me, too.
Mr. Target, Ms. J Crew, Mr. T.J. Maxx, Mr. Ballard Design, even Mr. Walton cannot till the empty places in my heart.
I repent, and pray that the Holy Spirit will transform my heart.
