Monday, August 18, 2008

On the home/business front:
I spent most of the evening in the basement again. As a result, I have a huge pile of boxes to break down and get rid of - again. I have been looking in vain for my primitive soap molds. I can't imagine what I did with them. However, in my quest to find them, I have gotten a lot of things organized downstairs. Make no mistake - it will never make the cover of Home and Garden, but at least it's a little more pleasant to work down there.

We had a meeting about our fall craft shows yesterday. It boils down to this - I am responsible for the "smelly" stuff and the fudge. The others do everything else. A lot will depend on what the weather will be like. Warm weather will definitely limit what we take - at least for the Applefest show.

My work is cut out for me today. I have to take care of those boxes - make some stockings, get the laundry done, do some cleaning, and generally get ready for Clay and Claire who will be spending the night tomorrow. So, I'd better get to it!
(Hi Kelli, Nina, and Barbara!)

Word of the day:
Matthew 19:16-22
Then someone came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Thoughts from the cornfield:
Here's something to think about. Do you own possessions? Or do they own you? In another passage, Jesus simplifies the commandments further: "you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your mind; and the second is like it - you shall love your neighbor as yourself." He went on to say that the entire law and the prophets were based on those commandments. It's a fine line between wealth and bondage when it comes to possessions.

I know that for me, it is very hard to get rid of stuff; my kids old school papers, their old toys, their old clothes. It isn't the stuff that I'm attached to, it's the memories they hold. I think that our possessions become so much a part of us that when we try to get rid of them, it's like getting rid of pieces of ourselves.

A few years ago I found Flylady.net. Her basic tenet is "you can't organize clutter, you have to get rid of it." She has some criteria for deciding if something needs to go. "Do I love it and does it make me smile." If it does not meet that criteria, we are told to release it to bless someone else's life. Thinking of blessing someone makes it a little easier to part with our stuff. Flylady suggests that if the memory is our reason for holding on to something, then take a picture of the item and get rid of it.

But I digress - "stuff and things" clutter our lives and leave us unable to accept the good things that God has for us. There is freedom in letting go.


God bless the troops!