Do you have a store room in your house? A basement or perhaps a room hidden away from the eyes of visitors that houses the trash and treasures of your life? For twenty years, I have lived in an old two story home with ample area to keep “stuff,” and mercy, have I ever kept everything! In anticipation of a possible move, I have spent the past several weeks sifting through the closets, drawers, and storage areas of our residence. The results have been incredible. It’s not as if I didn’t know what was there… but just that I had forgotten much of it, and the sheer volume was overwhelming!
We have a wonderful attic. It’s like one you would see on the cover of a Nancy Drew mystery… bare rafters, wooden plank floor, windows looking down to the ground far below. A single light bulb illuminates the large area, which until recently, was filled to overflowing with two decades of family collectibles. Included in that description are the castoffs from our parents’ store rooms and the entire lifetimes of our three sons. As I began my task, I first noted what was obviously there because size made being inconspicuous impossible…. A forty inch megaphone from high school cheerleader days… (I had always planned to “surprise” one of my boys with it someday at one of their ball games, but never had the heart, or the nerve!) My wedding gown and veil (which I try on every five year, just to observe what shrinkage occurs in stored clothing). The baby crib, a cradle, boxes of Christmas decorations…. the list goes on. But amid the larger articles, loomed boxes and bags, bins and baskets, of smaller items.... The 1985 model computer, half finished craft projects, a multitude of toys (including some from my childhood), dozens of winter boots and mismatched mittens…. There were numerous containers of printed material including warranty cards and instruction booklets for appliances (long since worn out) received as wedding gifts, canceled checks and old loan papers… 8-track music tapes… outdated clothing… photographs.
And then there were the cards…. Maybe because I worked in a card shop during my youth, I have a greater than average appreciation for this type of greeting. This must be true, because within the four walls of my home, I had collected every birthday, Christmas, anniversary, valentine, sympathy (you get the picture?) card we had ever received. I called a friend. “What do you do with old cards?” I asked. She responded, “If there’s a note of encouragement, I keep it to look back on. If it just has a name, I throw it away.” This did not help a great deal. “We’re talking my whole lifetime here…” I explained, “I’ve had lots of encouragement. Where do I begin?” I was wanting her to tell me to either keep them all or throw them all. She tried to be more helpful… “If the person who sent it is dead, keep it, otherwise… throw it away.” For heaven’s sake, I have been married 23 years…. A lot of these folks are dead, or will be! Maybe I should just put them aside to go through later…. “Throw them away,” was her parting remark.
My mind was reeling. What if there were a fire? If my house burned to the ground, what “contents” would I despair most at losing? What high school composition book or collection of shower cards would I consider irreplaceable? What value do I place on the historical brochures from my 1971 visit to Washington DC? What if I was called to a foreign mission field? (I have been told God has a sense of humor) If it became necessary for me to downsize my possessions for the purpose of containment, where would I begin? Where would I end? I felt as though if I were to look in a mirror, an image of a pack rat would be reflected!
Finally comes the question of “Why?” Why have I saved all of these “things” for all of these years? Have I tried to capture time? Memories? Feelings? Do we keep “stuff” to help us remember our pasts… or to help those who come after, to “remember us?” Have my efforts to “keep it all” thwarted my effort to savor the best? It has been a wonderful exercise in discipline to go through the boxes of time, with only three thoughts in mind: to throw away, to give away, or to keep.
To date, I have made quite a bit of progress, and I am getting much more organized also. That solution was quite simple. I am now the proud owner of many Rubbermaid containers, neatly stacked and nicely labeled as to their various contents. Each son has 28 gallons worth of school papers, art work, report cards and special memories. My husband’s 7th grade scrapbook on the Assassination of President Kennedy (yes, that great divider of young and middle aged people) resides with the chattering teeth from his paternal grandparents and other memorabilia from his youth. I have disposed of the wedding and shower cards and many other annual greetings, but not before I sat down and looked at each one. Some brought memories, others bore names I could not even put a face to…very few I set aside, salvaged in Rubbermaid for another day. A special note of encouragement… the familiar signature of a deceased loved one… There is still a lot to go through, but one thing is for certain, I am downsizing my earthly treasure.
The word treasure has two uses. It can represent money or something precious, or the act of cherishing the same. Matthew 6:19 cautions us not to store up our treasure on earth where it can be destroyed or stolen. In Luke 2 we are told that Mary treasured the events taking place at the birth of her first born, “In her heart.” That’s where our treasure is, in our hearts! Our memories, our milestones, how we will be remembered when we go Home at the end of this lifetime. The thought has occurred to me, that perhaps the Lord doesn’t have a move in mind for my family at all, but rather, just wanted me to “dig out.” And if that’s His will, so be it… all I can say is, this would have been a good time to own stock in Rubbermaid!
PS: 2008 - I've been in my "new home" for ten years now. I have a room in my basement from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.... of Rubbermaid!
We have a wonderful attic. It’s like one you would see on the cover of a Nancy Drew mystery… bare rafters, wooden plank floor, windows looking down to the ground far below. A single light bulb illuminates the large area, which until recently, was filled to overflowing with two decades of family collectibles. Included in that description are the castoffs from our parents’ store rooms and the entire lifetimes of our three sons. As I began my task, I first noted what was obviously there because size made being inconspicuous impossible…. A forty inch megaphone from high school cheerleader days… (I had always planned to “surprise” one of my boys with it someday at one of their ball games, but never had the heart, or the nerve!) My wedding gown and veil (which I try on every five year, just to observe what shrinkage occurs in stored clothing). The baby crib, a cradle, boxes of Christmas decorations…. the list goes on. But amid the larger articles, loomed boxes and bags, bins and baskets, of smaller items.... The 1985 model computer, half finished craft projects, a multitude of toys (including some from my childhood), dozens of winter boots and mismatched mittens…. There were numerous containers of printed material including warranty cards and instruction booklets for appliances (long since worn out) received as wedding gifts, canceled checks and old loan papers… 8-track music tapes… outdated clothing… photographs.
And then there were the cards…. Maybe because I worked in a card shop during my youth, I have a greater than average appreciation for this type of greeting. This must be true, because within the four walls of my home, I had collected every birthday, Christmas, anniversary, valentine, sympathy (you get the picture?) card we had ever received. I called a friend. “What do you do with old cards?” I asked. She responded, “If there’s a note of encouragement, I keep it to look back on. If it just has a name, I throw it away.” This did not help a great deal. “We’re talking my whole lifetime here…” I explained, “I’ve had lots of encouragement. Where do I begin?” I was wanting her to tell me to either keep them all or throw them all. She tried to be more helpful… “If the person who sent it is dead, keep it, otherwise… throw it away.” For heaven’s sake, I have been married 23 years…. A lot of these folks are dead, or will be! Maybe I should just put them aside to go through later…. “Throw them away,” was her parting remark.
My mind was reeling. What if there were a fire? If my house burned to the ground, what “contents” would I despair most at losing? What high school composition book or collection of shower cards would I consider irreplaceable? What value do I place on the historical brochures from my 1971 visit to Washington DC? What if I was called to a foreign mission field? (I have been told God has a sense of humor) If it became necessary for me to downsize my possessions for the purpose of containment, where would I begin? Where would I end? I felt as though if I were to look in a mirror, an image of a pack rat would be reflected!
Finally comes the question of “Why?” Why have I saved all of these “things” for all of these years? Have I tried to capture time? Memories? Feelings? Do we keep “stuff” to help us remember our pasts… or to help those who come after, to “remember us?” Have my efforts to “keep it all” thwarted my effort to savor the best? It has been a wonderful exercise in discipline to go through the boxes of time, with only three thoughts in mind: to throw away, to give away, or to keep.
To date, I have made quite a bit of progress, and I am getting much more organized also. That solution was quite simple. I am now the proud owner of many Rubbermaid containers, neatly stacked and nicely labeled as to their various contents. Each son has 28 gallons worth of school papers, art work, report cards and special memories. My husband’s 7th grade scrapbook on the Assassination of President Kennedy (yes, that great divider of young and middle aged people) resides with the chattering teeth from his paternal grandparents and other memorabilia from his youth. I have disposed of the wedding and shower cards and many other annual greetings, but not before I sat down and looked at each one. Some brought memories, others bore names I could not even put a face to…very few I set aside, salvaged in Rubbermaid for another day. A special note of encouragement… the familiar signature of a deceased loved one… There is still a lot to go through, but one thing is for certain, I am downsizing my earthly treasure.
The word treasure has two uses. It can represent money or something precious, or the act of cherishing the same. Matthew 6:19 cautions us not to store up our treasure on earth where it can be destroyed or stolen. In Luke 2 we are told that Mary treasured the events taking place at the birth of her first born, “In her heart.” That’s where our treasure is, in our hearts! Our memories, our milestones, how we will be remembered when we go Home at the end of this lifetime. The thought has occurred to me, that perhaps the Lord doesn’t have a move in mind for my family at all, but rather, just wanted me to “dig out.” And if that’s His will, so be it… all I can say is, this would have been a good time to own stock in Rubbermaid!
PS: 2008 - I've been in my "new home" for ten years now. I have a room in my basement from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.... of Rubbermaid!
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