My house is very lived in. There are five of us. Three under the age of 10 who have no concept of a trash can or laundry hamper. But when I know people are coming over, of course, I clean my house. I don't want it to 'look' lived in. So, if you come for a visit (and I know you're coming) my home will be nice and tidy. Clean dishes, clean floors, clean bathrooms, shoes and jackets in their proper place, maybe even a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. Welcome to the Johnsons'...
But there is one room in my house you will never go into. It's our 'office', and I'm using that term very loosely. This room contains everything we can't seem to let go of or find a space for. And the scary thing is it's just getting more and more full. If I look at the room as a whole it is almost overwhelming for me. I'm talking exercise equipment (which we don't use because I'd rather go to the gym), craft supplies (which I usually buy more of because I forget I already have them), stacks of papers that need sorting and filing (who has time for that???), kids' art projects and papers since they started school (these are not going anywhere), books...boxes of books, even three (yep, three) dinosaur computers that we don't use but aren't sure what to do with, and the list goes on and on. No, I am not a hoarder. I know that I need to clean this room out. I know that the longer I wait it is very likely that more will be thrown in there. Just one thing piled onto the next. I know that if I don't clean this room out, eventually it will get full. And inevitably, it will start to overflow into the rest of my house. Keeping it closed in behind that door does not make it any less part of my home and my belongings. It is part of the package as much as I want to keep it hidden.
So, I wonder how many of us have these little rooms inside our hearts. These secret little rooms where we keep things that we can't seem to let go of, but we don't really have space for. Even if we ignore them, they are still there. And we just pile more on top of the old until our little room is spilling over into other parts of us. It is very uncomfortable for me to be in that room, just BE there. I would never go sit in that room. It would just leave me overwhelmed and depressed. But I can't choose to ignore it. I must go in with the motive and mindset of cleaning out and making better. It may mean making the tough decision to get rid of somethings that I've had for a while. But, let me ask you this, if these things are so unnecessary (and even ugly) that they must be 'hidden' away, why in the world am I hanging on to them? It's time to clean out...papers, books, computers, craft supplies, insecurities, jealousy, blame, unforgiveness...clean out and make better.
Well said, Sister!
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