The Great Basement Cleanout

And so it begins, once again. The time to clean out the basement. Our basement has been the catch all for all the things we either don't know what to do with, or are tired of looking at. It's funny how it is always there, taunting me, even after I've attempted this clean up before. I mean, seriously, I pass through the basement every time I go to my car!! I clean a little at a time, rearranging boxes. Yet somehow I feel as though I never really make a dent in the mess that I have. Sometimes I feel like throwing everything away and just starting from scratch. But then, as I go through things I think, "Oh maybe I'll use that one day."

Is there really a reason I need to keep jewelry making supplies when the last time I even attempted to make a bracelet was like 5 years ago? I mean, really, I haven't even missed it, and never even thought about it until I saw it. Why hold on to this stuff?

If you know me and have been to my house, you probably know that I like things clean and orderly. I know if a picture frame has been moved and want all the pillows on the bed in an exact fashion. I vacuum every other day. But, there are places that get cluttered- closets, drawers, under cabinets, my laundry room! But, I would never let you see that- never!! I sure do think about these cluttered places alot, I'd venture to say on a daily basis, but like the basement there is always another day to tackle that mess. But if you see those cluttered places, then you might realize that I do not have it all together.

I realized something in planning my basement clean out- it is very much like my life. There are things I like to stuff under the bed, or throw in the closet. Things like my frustrations, my disappointments in myself as a wife and a mother and as friend, mostly as a Christian. Things that even though I don't see them every day because they are in my drawer or my closet, the Lord sees them.

How do I tackle these messes? Well, I think that I gut everything. Get rid, little by little, of those things I don't need. Do I need to hang on to what I perceive as my failures? What use is that to me? Will I use it? Why do I need that? The truth is that I DON'T need it. Just like the jewelry making supplies, I don't need to use my sins for anything anymore. I can throw that all away. I can clean out the basement. Hold on to the lessons my sin or failures or whatever it is taught me, but don't hold on to the weight that it brought with it.

My basement is the place that I throw all my junk, things I haven't used in years, or just don't know what to do with. My closets and drawers, on the other hand, are the places that I throw my everyday junk into. My "I'll deal with that tomorrow" place. I need to tackle that too. I need to deal with my "in the moment" sins- frustration at my kids, my tiredness, my whatever for the day. I believe that the Lord wants me to clean out these places too.

You know a few months ago I got on a kick to purge alot of stuff, room by room. (Hence the basement crisis). I have felt so much better without that junk around me! So, I have a challenge to myself and to you. Let's begin the "Great Basement Clean out" together. Let's rid ourselves of the junk that holds us back from being what the Lord has for us. I will be offering a devotion/challenge/words of encouragement in what I will call "Wednesday's Words". Please join me!!

With much anticipation!!
Amy