September 2, 2008
I know it doesn’t look like it from these pictures, but Charles and I are simplifying our lives. I keep praying that when I arrive at “Simple,” it doesn’t look a thing like these pictures.
Many of you know that when Charles and I said, “I do” last December 29, we decided we would figure out our living arrangements later. We each had a house to sell first. Then there came to pass this unpleasant real estate market which has kept u
s living like gypsies between houses for the past eight months. When mine sold and the buyer said something about being out in five days, I said, “No problem.” That is not the first time in my life I spoke without thinking. We had just started a remodeling project on his house two days earlier.
In the middle of sheetrock dust, wet paint and furniture stacked on furniture, we are climbing over all these boxes labeled with five children’s names, our names and generic categories like “Storage,” “Goodwill,” “Consignment,” and even “Need Advice with this one.” It occurs to me that we are actually staring at three-plus decades of life before each other. It has been almost like a history lesson for both of us as we have sorted through old photos, books, or personal treasures. Almost every item has a story, and – yes – we always stop to share them.
There have been some hard decisions on what to keep and what to let go. I have stared at some things for hours unable to make a decision. At the same time, I have suddenly been willing to part with things that I have moved from place to place or closet to closet for decades thinking I could never let them go. There is a spiritual lesson in this, believe it or not.
I have thought of the verse in Ecclesiastes through all of this, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” I’ve also thought long and hard about God’s timing – it makes all the difference in the freedom of letting some things go.
Stay tuned – you are viewing the “before.” Wait till you see the after!
