April 30

Written by Bill Grandi on April 30th, 2020

Stuff! So much stuff! When we had to move my sister-in-law from the duplex she lived in (inherited it from us in 2005 when we moved here) to a long-term facility, it was up to us to clean out her place. I’m not sure I had ever seen so much stuff as I had then.  She could be classified as a hoarder to a large extent.  But it made me think about me and Jo. When we got married while in college, we had nothing, except the clothes on our back (and a few others). When we moved to our first ministry we took very little in the smallest U-Haul possible. Our first apartment was sparsely filled. Then Tami came along and you know what that means. Each move brought a bigger moving truck. Stuff!!

One of the good things about the current situation brought on by the pandemic is that it is causing us to pause. Do I really need this? Should I buy this? Should I hold off for a bit? People keep saying that “God has taken away all we hold dear in this pandemic.” Sports? Suspended or cancelled. Work? Unemployed or cut back drastically. Entertainment? Quarantined away. Eating out? Delivery or take out only. I don’t know God’s motives or methods but it sure has had us take pause to consider the fragility of things.  I keep thinking of Jesus’ words: “Why worry about what you will eat or what you will drink?…No man can serve two masters…” (Matthew 6:25-33)

Stuff? It’s gone in a matter of seconds. It can’t be taken with us. Ultimately, it will burn up in the fire that will consume everything. Some things are essential like a chair when you’ve given yours away to your daughter who is having to start all over. (We are not Japanese either). Or a weed-eater when the other one bites the dust. Rather than buy, I’m thinking Purge! Now or later it’s outa here! It is much better to give away than to keep buying and receiving.

“Father, help me to make wise choices. Help me to discern what is extra and what is essential…in things and in life.”

 

4 Comments so far ↓

  1. And as we declutter stuff from our lives, so should we declutter our hearts from burdens and fears and angst against someone. Just as there is such freedom in decluttering our homes, there is much more freedom in the decluttering of our souls. Hallelujah!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      i absolutely 100% agree Diane. What good is it to declutter our junk if we don’t declutter our soul?

  2. This time is a great opportunity to rid ourselves of the things we don’t really need in our lives, especially if those things are keeping us from growing closer to God. It’s also a time for us to be extra grateful for the necessities that keep us going. Never thought I’d be thankful to the Lord for toilet paper – lol – but I am! 🙂
    Blessings, Bill!

  3. Eddy Damas says:

    I’m more of less in the same situation. Lately my brother has been moving things around in the house that my mother used to own/live in. He made the 54 year old dining room table smaller, placing it in the kitchen, getting rid of the round table in the kitchen. Then moving pictures and furniture around. A part of me got my nerves picked bad, but there’s nothing I can do, or should do, except let it go. I mean, it stuff that I don’t really need, and don’t really use. Besides in the end… it’s all useless junk anyways.