My daughter and I have been embarking on a second round of Jen Hatmaker's book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. A more detailed explanation can be found here. And here. This is my weekly progress check in.
MAY 20-JUNE 20? We are getting rid of stuff.
210 items, to be exact.
Seven things, each and every day.
Maybe I should post pics of what I actually still own that I definitely should not??
I
am a hoarder. Not bad enough to get myself on a TV show that
embarrasses my children to the third generation, but a hoarder,
still. I keep stuff. Too much of it.
For
example, the five pairs of great jeans I kept for years, because some
day, they would fit again. You know what I'm saying here. I loved
those jeans, and they had not gotten nearly enough wear before my
size, ahem, changed.
Fast
forward a while. I took them out last year, after having lost weight
due to the celiac debacle. Tried them on, all excited to get to wear
those fashionable things again. Guess what? They were huge. I saved
those jeans for years, and they never, ever fit again. (Plus, the
likelihood of them still being fashionable was . . . not.)
So
why not give them away years ago, when they still were fashionable
and someone else could have worn them? Because they were still
perfectly good. The fact is, from cars to clothes to craft items,
this family doesn't get rid of anything that still works. That's
good. Usually.
But
what about when it's not perfectly good for us? See, I've been asking
the wrong question all this time when looking at something and
deciding whether to give it away, throw it away, or keep it. My
question has been, “Is it still good? Can I still use it?”
7
has taught me to look at it another way. To ask another question.
“Is
it still good for me? Will I still use it?
Or—is it
perfectly good in order to bless someone else who needs it? I can't
let go of something, even something I will never use, if it still can
be used. Even if it's a pair of jeans that was two sizes too small,
and is now five sizes too big. How crazy is that?
It
makes me ask other questions. What other things can't I let go of? If
my hold on material stuff is so strong, how is my hold on other
stuff? Intangible stuff that, like piles of unused clothes and craft
materials, can strangle the life and sanity out of a person? Stuff
that takes up too much mental space with my need to cling to it and
defend my possession of it.
The
need to be right.
The
need to defend myself.
The
fear that someone else is doing better.
The
pursuit of safe work rather than the risks God wants.
Doing
what's easy rather than what's necessary.
The
defense of my time.
The
right to get angry.
Are
there other things I can't let go of, even when it would bless others
immeasurably if I jettisoned them ASAP?
I'm
here to tell you, getting rid of stuff is freeing. My closet and my
craft room and my sanity thank me. But I suspect that getting rid of
mental junk is even better. I think I'm going to work on some
questions to ask about that kind of stuff.
“And
now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on
what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and
admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of
praise.” Philippians 4.8
Stay
tuned.
Meanwhile,
what mental junk might you need to toss over the side? Let's help
each other.
