A full closet here. A stack of boxes over there. Storage bins with everything from holiday decorations to a mismatch set of dishes and a handful of back-in-the-day shirts and floppy hats.
We all do it. Keep this. Keep that. “Someday we will need it,” we tell ourselves. Or maybe one of the adult children will gush with excitement to receive—the stuff. Nope. Probably not going to happen.
We all stash our stash for various reasons. Perceived monetary value. Possible future purpose. Or maybe we just hang on to it for sentimental reasons.
I’m not about to suggest a plan for organizing your stuff. There are plenty of experts out there to guide you along that path. Nor will I tell you to toss, toss, toss.
What I will suggest, however, is not only does a lot of stuff take up a lot space, it requires periodic attention if we hope to keep it in good working order.
For example . . .
Clothing needs laundered and/or repaired.
Holiday decorations, packed tighter and tighter with each passing season may crumble or shatter.
The once sturdy well-worn children’s stool needs a fresh coat of paint or a new leg.
And then there is the precariously stacked stack[s] of books, a breath from a major collapse that may not only make a big mess but damage nearby items.
My experience has been that one of the most important questions I can ask is, “why am I keeping this?”
The key is not to beat up on yourself for having a stuffed closet, stacks of boxes, or storage bins stashed in every nook and cranny.
The key is to gently, with loving firmness, allow God to help you discern the status of your stuff.
Give away? Toss out? Refurbish and use rather than buy new?
In this light, not only will the extent of the stuff become lighter, pun intended, those things that remain will likely have the greatest meaning.
In the end, maybe the best part of the giving away, tossing, or refurbishing is that we enjoy newfound peace in the awareness the things we thought were so important now have new life and new purpose, rather than being relinquished to an unwieldy stack or buried in a box of who knows what.
Am I a stuffer and a stacker? Why?
How do I feel about taking the time to discern what to toss, give, or refurbish?
Can I invite God to help me sort out the stuff?
