Wednesday

STUFF, STUFF and more STUFF! - A Dose of Encouragement


Isn't it lovely to receive presents?

In the weeks leading up to our son's wedding our house just filled up with wedding presents appearing day after day and week after week in the post.  (All this online shopping is fantastic now even for Wedding Lists.)









We have a room in our house we call the games room because there is a snooker table in the centre of it, but truthfully it should be called the


 "Where our 3 children, who have all left home, 
still store their STUFF"   room


because all around the room and under the snooker table are boxes & bags of all sizes and descriptions holding all the STUFF our kids wanted to keep but did not have room for in the small places they had been living in so far.


So my husband Fred piled the presents on and around the snooker table and this room became the


  "Wedding Present" Room


up until Daniel & Suzie returned from their honeymoon and came to take these gifts to their new home.






And then the snooker table was cleared again.

However!
There was still a corner of the room which we called Daniel's Corner where all his boxes of STUFF were.

The STUFF did not go when the presents went.
 (There was no room left in the car and the presents would have to be found a home in the house first)


His wife Suzie looked at us with suspicion every time we said


 "Daniel's STUFF" 


because she had never yet had a glimpse inside these boxes and was wondering just what would be unearthed when they were finally opened and what would she have to find a home for.

The problem was they had both been renting accommodation with friends since before they met and she thought that Daniel had brought enough "stuff" from there.

So

 Later "Daniel's STUFF" was to be taken and sorted and a home found for all the things from his previous years as a child, teenager and university student.


All of our family hold onto STUFF 

Even though we have moved house several times, having lived in different countries, and have done large clearances each time, we still have STUFF that has stayed with us.  My husband is always saying that we should just go through the kids STUFF and sort it out but I say it is not ours to decide on as some things we might feel have no value will actually be the things that have special meaning or memories for the kids.

I had said that I needed to do a clear out once again as we had been here in this house for 3 years then and there was definitely STUFF we did not need anymore.  So hopefully I can get myself round to doing this very soon.

I said that I needed to do a clear out once again as we have been here in this house for 3 years now and there is definitely STUFF we do not need anymore and hopefully I could get myself round to doing that soon.


I have also assured Fred that I can help him to sort through all his STUFF 
but he goes very quiet then.


Well the time did come later when Daniel and Suzie came to sort through Daniel's "stuff".


Some of the STUFF was thrown out as Daniel decided he didn't need it anymore, and some more of the STUFF was given to the car boot sale because it could be of use to others but there was still some of the STUFF that stayed with him because of the usefulness of the object or of the memories it holds.


But what about my STUFF?

Well I have been doing a Facebook Decluttering Challenge this year called



and this has been a good encouragement to get rid of more of the STUFF in our house.


Of course life would be more simple for all of us if we got rid of a lot of the stuff we still have in our houses but more importantly our lives would be simplified and of a better standard if we got rid of all that STUFF that stays in our mind and hinders us from growing each day as God would want us to grow.

  • All the things we remember that people have said or done that have hurt us.
  • All the foolish things that we remember we did in the past.
  • All the times when we spoke too soon,  or too late,  or when we shouldn't have spoken at all,  or when we should have spoken but failed to stand up for what we knew to be right.
  • All the things that we listened to from others which have led us in the wrong way instead of testing it by God's Word
  • All the things that we wished we had done but didn't.



Have you sorted through all the STUFF in your life?



All this STUFF needs to be thrown out.


           All the good STUFF needs to be kept.


                       All the other STUFF that truly helped us previously needs to be shared                                                                                          to help others now.



What are you doing with your STUFF?