Possessions: Day 17

Today was another delivery day. Returned some items, gave a couple of gifts, had some door prizes for MOPS, and two X-large bags for Goodwill. My favorite part of the day was walking into MOPS (late… of course… I don’t like to be tempted by all of the yummy food) and seeing the room that I set up FULL of stuff yesterday, it was almost all gone! It was a super great feeling!!! I don’t know if one person wiped out the whole joint or if 30 people got to get something, but regardless, someone else that had a use for the things in the room got them, and that was a good feeling. 

MOPS door prizes

1 John 3:17But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? This month is has become very apparent how utterly blessed we are with possessions, to the point of obtaining so many things that we could wildly bless a small community, and it feels so good to give it to people that will utilize their purpose, rather than have them sitting in a closet, or container, or basement. God has a great way of giving you that “good feeling” inside when you have done something for Him. Not saying it is always easy, but MOST of the time, you have that little feeling of peace that only God can give. Thankful for that.

So I made a commitment (not sure if this was a verbal commitment or one in my head… but a commitment none the less) that I would not bring anything into the house that was not consumable during possessions month. Thus far, I have done a good job of this in the past 2 and ½ weeks.  Today I was so tempted! The speaker at MOPS today was talking about hospitality and had some very lovely give aways.  Normally, I would be in the corner praying my name was drawn to get something cool and lovely for free. Today I was praying my name was NOT drawn because I didn’t want to turn something down that was cool and lovely and free :). BUT alas, my name was drawn. As to not be rude, I gladly accepted. When I got to my table, Delisa (a MOPS mentor you I have laid out my plan and asked to be praying for me) gladly took my most excellent cookbooks and said, “I will keep them for you until Possessions month is over.” I think this is cheating, but I have a week and a half to decide if I give them away or accept them post-possessions month. But I am thankful for Delisa bailing me out of a “in the moment” decision.

Possessions: Day 16

My little helpers

Post Office

Today was a delivery and errands day.  It was a long day of running around, loading and unloading. I had my two cute little sidekicks and off we went. We hit Me and Mommy Again, Post Office (for some eBay auction deliveries), Lion’s Lake (because the girls needed a little lunch break and the weather was beautiful), Lowes, church to drop clothes for the MOPS gals, and then home. The girls were lots of help, super cute, and only slightly fussy toward the end of the day. All in all a pretty good purge day.  Got 6 trash bags, 4 tubs, and 2 packages of stuff out of the house and only brought home a can of primer. :) More deliveries planned for tomorrow!

My cute lunch dates at the park.

I had someone stop me today in my delivery process and start the conversation with, “I’ve been reading your blog…” and continued on to tell me they were encouraged by it.  I have had several emails, phone calls, facebook messages, or texts from people to let me know they are reading and how it is somehow stirring something… can I just say… thank you.  I am so humbled at the fact that people would even take the time to read my little nugget of reflection on this process.  So thank you so much for all of you that have been so encouraging during this fast thus far.  Blogging (which I really haven’t got the hang of yet) is a great accountability tool for this amazing adventure that I am on. It is a great (yet sometimes very difficult) journey that I hope to be pleasing and glorifying the Lord, and learning what He has to teach me in all of these different areas of my life.

Stopping to pick some flowers.

Possessions: Day 14

It has been a crazy busy whirl wind the past couple of days. My sister flew in and back out within 36 hours (that is a lot of time to and from and at the airport this week), I had very little sleep this week (which makes me weepy and short tempered), tie in all the other day to day responsibilities (because life does not stop when you are tired and have a goal), and garage sales are soooo much work!

Friday was a long day. From the time I woke (6:15am) to the time I went to bed (12:30am) I worked on garage sale stuff.  It was such a long day. My friend Jessica took the girls for the day (praise the Lord for friends who understand and steal my children) and Missy (council member) came and helped all morning. We hauled up from the basement and organized in the garage and then sorted, and sorted, and sorted some more clothes (Missy must really love me because this was a really long, not fun task). There was so much stuff to get rid of!

Missy and I's accomplishment for the morning.

I also had the kids go through their rooms. They had to pick a minimum of 9 things each to get rid of.  This was very interesting to see their personalities come out in this task. Brayden would not get rid of things that had sentimental value, even if they were broken. Landen gave TONS of stuff, even things he loves and plays with, Eleni really struggled with giving up anything and ultimately chose things that she didn’t like or were broken (apparently the purging on the dresses was a one day affair… we are working on it), and Addi gave me Eleni’s stuff (she is 3 and cute so I cut her a little slack :)).  So personalities were shinning through.  The boys also decided to have a bake sale to make money. They purchased their products (with their own money) and baked on Friday night and sold out on Saturday morning. My little entrepreneurs.

Salesmen hard at work!

Making their signs

So the good news is… we got rid of a TON of stuff! All of the stuff that did not sell is not coming back into the house (as promised to my husband).  Everything is bagged up and ready to be distributed to its locations next week. Excited about that! The bad news is… I didn’t get to everything I wanted to before the garage sale, so there is still so much stuff to get rid of. Got through kids clothes, all boy toys, some girl toys, the kitchen, stamp sets (but not all my craft supplies), all my bags (there were an embarrassing amount of them), all the living room (all the furniture is gone… we are literally in folding chairs and blankets on the floor with the TV on the floor), all summer stuff and costume bins, and any leftover baby stuff hanging about. I did not even start on our room (aside from the shoe purge the first day). 

Garage sale in full swing

Tomorrow is a drop of day for some of the stuff, other than that, I am taking the day off from purging. This coming week is supposed to count toward the garage sale, but after the deliveries are made (last one on Wednesday)… I think I am going to attempt to start tackling some of these areas that were supposed to be done before the garage sale.  I still have so much stuff to purge. I have also decided (after a conversation with my husband) to incorporate “possessions fast” somehow into every month until the end of the fast. I’m not sure what that means yet, but somehow there will continue to be the act of purging/simplifying put into every month (even if it is only one day). I will keep you posted.

my little helper for the day

So something funny is kind of happening while I am typing this (because I type in my journal before I post to the blog)… in the above paragraph in the second sentence I cannot get the word AFTER to not be highlighted. I have no idea how I did it, but somehow the word changed colors and won’t change back.  And not to get all “everything is a sign” on you… but I find it kind of ironic (me being the person that is always trying to “plan” or “push forward”) that the important word that is now standing out is AFTER. So, sign or not, I am going to take that to mean that I really need to not work on the next purge until AFTER the deliveries are made. We shall see what that holds for the next couple of days (if anything… it may be nothing but a sign that I am not a computer literate person ;)).

My Bible verses that I am memorizing this month are Matthew 6: 20-21. I like the New Living Translation the best for these verses, so that is what I am going with.

Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

I long to live this out. I do not do a good job of this, but I am gaining clarity and seeking wisdom, and hope to become better with time. It is such a simple, yet hard thing to do. Desires of your heart… that kind of just smacks you in the face. What I want to be the desires of my heart and what I am actually living out with my actions in my day to day life, don’t always match up. I am so glad God is so patient with me and is a merciful and forgiving God.

 

the boys

the girls

Highlight: We had a trivia night with friends at church tonight to support the Bible Bowl Team. We did not win (came in 3^rd) but we had fun and ate well.  Love having good friends to hang with… especially at the end of such a long, long week! Thanks for stopping by to have a read!

me and the hubs

Possessions: Day 11

Today was a good day. I got a ton accomplished… towards possessions month. My house is very quickly falling apart around me (it does not help to be in the middle of a remodel). Today Amber (council member) came out and helped me price any non-clothing items (Thank you Amber!!!).  Everything that was in the basement to sell was priced.  Getting it all set up and organized is a whole new ballgame on Friday (that will probably take FOREVER).

 Before Amber got there I tried to talk the girls into watching PBS so we could get some things done without interruption (because media month is over now… so it is ok to go back to using the TV as a babysitter ;)). Eleni reminded me, in her ever so articulate little voice, “I thought we were no screens during the week, mom?” And yes that is the rule, but I was willing to break it today (shame on me). She, however, was not as willing. So the girls set up their “houses” and they were Rapunzel and Tinker Bell (who are also best friends at our house) and they read books, and planned picnics, and had a merry ol’ time. My kids are so good at teaching me lessons.  It appears they learned more during media month than I did.

Girls enjoying some reading time.

This happens when unattended for a period of time, expensive "stickers" on every finger!

So as we were pricing in the basement, it was relatively calm upstairs and not too disastrous when we surfaced again… or so I thought. The girl’s bedroom looks like a very literacy inclined princess’s closet exploded. Books and dresses EVERYWHERE! So I need to get a handle on my day to day chores and responsibilities while doing the fast.  I feel like I can only be good in one area at a time, and today it was not household responsibilities.  It is a process, I hope to get better at it.