How I got started getting things back to simple

I got into the habit of getting up 30 minutes earlier in the day to pray, read my passages on the pursuit of reading the bible in one year and one piece of motivational material. I found that giving the Lord my undivided attention in the morning left me with a day that flowed more smoothly. Not without the normal complications that can happen but with me being at peace that it was in His hands and it would be okay.

One morning I read a statement that stuck with me in a newspaper article titled “45 Life Lessons and 5 To Grow On.” #42 read, “Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.” It hit me….I was a CLUTTER BUG. How did this happen? I was putting things away. I thought. However, how many things did I have that weren’t used or kept because “one day I might need that?” After getting over the shock, I realized it was time to declutter.

The question was how to start….my plate was full. Children, laundry, soccer games practice, volleyball games and practice, dinner, take my mom for her chemo sessions, etc. You get the idea. I dug into my waiting time and thought about the best way to go about it. I realized that I was not going to read the bible in one day or that I did not gain or lose my weight all in one day. I was going to have to tackle this a bit at a time and schedule time to do it.

I started with my kitchen. The place that I seemed to spend most of my time….breakfast, lunch, dinner, homework, science & geography projects…..you get the idea. I went first to my junk drawer and cleaned out my ancient coupons, broken rubber bands, the excess twist ties and the items that were not “useful, beautiful or joyful.” I felt so great about this accomplishment, I wanted to shout and dance the cha-cha. I made a dent. I was ready to take the great plunge.

I found a place in my basement for four boxes and labeled them. REPAIR, DONATE, ASK AND SELL. The REPAIR was for items that were worth keeping a small family heirloom (joyful) that needed gluing. The DONATE was for anything that was going to an organization. I ended up with another DONATE 2 box for things that I was giving to other family members or friends of items they wanted or needed that I did not. The ASK was for my husband or children. The SELL was for the eventual garage sale I was planning on for the next summer. I figured it would take me that long to get through everything.

Next, I’ll share what I found to be great tips and ideas on how to store and what to store that I found. Any questions? Ask away.

"To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." - Ephesians 3:20 -