The Spirit of Toss

I confess -- I am a JUNKIE -- not in terms of substance abuse, but in possessions. I don't shop garage sales -- I have enough of that stuff at home. Whenever I hold a garage sale I make about $30 -- Evidentally, I'm not parting with the things somebody else really wants. I'm always waiting for one of those groups that will come by and pick up items for charity. I keep boxes ready to give away-- and the minute they call I have it ready to put on my front porch. Doing all that, it still seems to accumulate!

I have been saying to my family for the past six months when summer gets here I'm doing a major cull of everything. WELL . . .
Yesterday I spent the day in Marshall's apartment in OKC moving boxes and clothes back to Tulsa -- From his packing plan of taking only what will fit in his pick-up I can see it coming . . . another one of those moves that part gets left to our garage, attic or his abandoned room upstairs.

Where did all this stuff come from???

Whenever our kids have made a move -- Tulsa seemed to be a drop-off point for a few of those things they couldn't quite part with or need in their new place. As a Mom, I'm holding on to those little reminders of every stage of their lives. When our parent's homes sold, their keepsakes were divided and we received some cherished items that we can't part with just yet.

A friend of our's at LifePark even did a music video to a Christian song "Things" and used our attic and garage for the video clips b/c we had the most JUNK! To our defense we have become the storage shed for the church while we're waiting on our new building to be built. As you can see from the picture above our garage holds two church lawn mowers, a wheelchair for the Honduran medical mission, western decorator pieces for the cabins we hope to build on the property some day and a stuffed coyote. (Our kids are still asking what's the use for that?)

I read magazine articles on organization and every 2-3 years I sort and do a major toss. It seems in the interim we take on more things --
People used to refer to my collection of teaching supplies, flower decorations, travel souveniers, fabric remnants and old collectible dishes as "Jan's Junk". When my mother died and we closed out her house, my brother was going to give all her craft boxes to Goodwill, I could see a teaching "need" for those and quickly retrieved them from the toss pile.

Our daughter, Bethany, is what her aunt describes as a "minimalist" and as she looked over our accumulation last fall said, "I'm not looking forward to some day having to deal with all this -- it's time to toss -- I reminded her who's college boxes are still in the attic. Bethany's rule is if you add one item you have to toss something else.
Something I read last week said if it's not useful to you in the next six months, beautiful to enjoy or highly valuable then discard it. Problem is as a teacher and crafter I see a project or teaching object in EVERYTHING!

My rationale for keeping was -- when the kids get their own places they may need this overstuffed chair, old recliner or table. Well they're about settled now and they're not taking it!

My goal for the summer is to sort, reorganize and pare down to only what we can use, enjoy or share with others. I've put the attic off until now -- Do I really need that many toys or baby clothes for my grandkids some day? Will kids still be playing with transformers and leggos in 2015? How many stuffed animals can one toddler hug, anyway?

The Hebrews passage "throw off every weight that hinders" has convicted me. Max Lucado wrote of this concept in "Traveling Light". Getting rid of what is cluttering our walk, not just in the realm of spiritual or mental -- but I also believe in the physical..


I've decided to pray for the "spirit of toss" to be able to know what to hold on to and what to throw. Lord, show me what I need to keep for Your work, give to somebody who needs, and what to TOSS! I can be more productive if I'm traveling lighter!

Hmmm . . .my office is stacked, with every THING I've moved home from school and my last two months of Sunday school lessons. I guess I know where I start today.