On getting rid of a lot of stuff

Or, You can't have everything, where would you put it?

Well, I got half way through the basement. So today, after I vacuum the sun room so that we can have a little birthday party for an important and wonderful person, and make my bed (which takes me ages because of my ever increasing bulk), I'm going to try to FINISH it this morning. Ha.

My youngest child, I think, has been interceding for me constantly. I find her every so often prostrate on the floor, hands folded, head bowed babbling in some other tongue. I mean, I hope she's talking to God although it worries me what she might be saying. The other children are trying to pull toys out of the mountain in the living room that I want to get rid of. 'Put it back!!! Put is back!! We have to get rid of it!' I scream. And then, because it occurs to me that they're being quiet and not distracting me, 'Ok, you can play with it for 3 and a half minutes.' So I've also been putting things back in the pile every hour or so.

I know so many of you have been worried that I wouldn't be able to get rid of all this stuff, that I, in fact, was the one who collected it and that I have a problem with having too many things. If you come over today, you will find that this is not the case. I've had it in my mind for years what exactly I want to get rid of. I haven't acquired most all of this of my own free will. It was given or wandered in under my nose, and got stuffed into attics and basements before I could reasonably deal with it. So now I am ruthlessly and happily flinging clothes, books, toys and shoes into an immense pile--That horrible pair of jeans that Never fit but I felt like I ought to stuff myself into anyway, that Barny toy that sings and sings and sings until I feel myself slowly loosing my mind, that pair of little boy shoes that scraped the poor baby skin off my poor baby one summer, and the mounds and mounds of books that we've read and need to pass on to other lovely people.

I imagine this is like heaven. As we come into the presence of the Almighty we find we are Finally Rid of that nagging desire to gossip, that nasty feeling we've lugged around toward so and so who never understood who we really were anyway, the immense frustrating pile of imperfection and ingratitude and other junk that we knew we wanted to get rid of but never got to it because there was never any deadline. Well, my deadline is Saturday, and if Jesus comes back that day, I'll only have to leave behind a quarter of the stuff I currently posses. So, come Lord Jesus, or, if you'd like to wait a little longer, that will probably be ok too.