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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Closet Cleaning

A couple of nights ago while watching Gunsmoke, Dan and I heard a loud sound and as he hurried off to the downstairs and backyard, I went to check out the front of the house. I was hoping that it was the Momma and Baby deer that he and Mark have recently observed and I have not been privileged to see them yet. After finding nothing askew, we returned to our respective recliners to see if Matt got the villain again like he did the last time we saw this same episode (and he did!). It was only a couple of hours later when I went to retire for the night that I, very disappointed, saw the reason for the "sound like something fell" noise. My closet rack system had a support that had broken and much to my dismay, the floor was filled with clothes, some just returned clean and pressed from the cleaners, and shoes and purses all piled together resembling a mini mountain.

Now, at 9:00 at night, there is no energy to tackle a project like this so I shut the door, went to bed, and tried very hard not to think about the huge mess at the bottom of my closet. I was a little like Scarlett O'Hara who said "I will think about this tomorrow!" I was secretly hoping that the closet elfs would show up as I peacefully dreamed and do me a giant favor but upon arising at 6:15 the next morning, I surmised that the project would be handled by me.  Firstly, I cleared all the paraphernalia from the floor and laid it on the bed in the spare bedroom so my Handy-Man Husband (thank the Lord for him!) could install the new rack system when he returned from Home Depot. When his mission was accomplished, he informed me that he added two extra support parts to hold "all that stuff." When he left for work, I began the task and instantly remembered a very wise and godly lady telling me one time that occasionally, she would go through her closet and if she hadn't worn it in a year, she assumed she wouldn't and would give it away to someone who would. "There is probably some lady out there who needs it worse than me.", she would say.

Now, let me quickly explain because most of my readers are female and generally women are very "into" their wardrobes so my blog isn't to encourage to give your clothes away. Some of you are breathing a sigh of relief, aren't you? My beautiful daughter, Amy, loves clothes and always looks so nice as even the accessories are perfect. Me, not so much- I even told her that she should be up here to show me what to keep and what simply does not work for her almost 58-year old mother. (Maybe like the floral dress from the 90's, I believe. What you think , Amy Lou?)  It was really simple for me though as I decided they would not travel back from the bed to the closet if I had not been wearing them. My wardrobe, for you who know me, is a very simple one. Denim skirts and short sleeved shirts in the summer and denim skirts and long sleeved shirts in the winter and of course if it is really cold, I will put on my GT Yellow Jacket or Tennessee Volunteer sweat shirt, depending on whether I am in an ACC or SEC mood on that particular day. (Or probably which one is about to play the Bulldogs. :) )  Just kidding- - - - - - not really.

On Sundays, I am settling most of the time on black skirts,(slimming effects and I can use that) and different blouses or sweaters. Black skirts, I guess, require only a couple of pair of comfortable black shoes so that probably means the 40 other pair don't have to go back on the overstressed shelves, right? Doesn't that sound like a good plan to you?

"Deborah", you say, "your fashion show or lack thereof is boring us to tears," which brings me to my point today. My closet looks much more simple, some lady who visits our thrift store sponsored by a local church will be blessed, (except for the early 90's floral dress) and the tremendous, unnecessary weight that brought it crumbling to the fall in the first place has been pleasantly lightened.  Let me ask you, does your life, like mine, at times seem to be too complicated and encumbered? There is just too much "stuff" and is it weighing you down? It brings to mind the writer of Hebrews exhorting those who run the race to "lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Runners who are serious about completing successfully the race don't show up with overcoats and thick jogging pants and steel-toed shoes with Mr. T. chains around their necks.  This 12th chapter of Hebrews begin with the word "therefore." What is it there for? It refers to the heroes in chapter 11 who refused to let the "too much junk" bring their spiritual closets crashing down. They had their eyes on the Goal, their Lord, and wanted to run free and focused and finish well for the One Who deserved their best. I love verse 26, concerning Moses who "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." Moses, being raised in the house of the pharaoh had access to lots of "things" but those "things" didn't have access nor own his heart. Verse 10 blessed me so much because I love the word "sojourner" and Abraham "looked for a city which hath foundations, Whose builder and maker is God."  Both of these O.T. examples and countless others knew that amassing treasures and accomplishing "successes" in this life was not their objective. Oh, that we American believers would grasp hold of that. Rather, we are grasping hold of what we think is ours when letting it go is much better than God having to pry it away from our clenched fists or letting it all crash to the floor in a pitiful heap.

I am doing a spiritual inventory in my own life to see what needs to remain and what can be discarded. I don't know your besetting sins nor your weights, ( the weights being things that may not even be bad but just burdensome) but I felt that God was challenging me this morning as I wondered what to hang back in the closet. I thought I heard Him say something like this- "My child, don't hang that back in your heart closet- throw it away- it really isn't becoming to a child of Mine anyway." Warren Wiersbe put it like this- "Life is too short and the race is too difficult for us to carry weights we don't need."

I will close for now for I believe, as my heart has been challenged, that some of yours will be too, simply by the thought that our spiritual lives maybe have become too cluttered and we have forgotten the "one thing" that our eyes are to be set upon. Maybe I speak to one today whose life looks like my closet, completely fallen down and quite frankly, a mess. Let me remind you and encourage you that God can take that and sort through, discard, rearrange, and restore back to what brings Him glory, the reason for our being here anyway! That closet of mine, this morning, was empty and I chose carefully what would go back in and now it looks so much nicer. Christ is the Master at heart cleansing. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just  to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Praise Him for that today!!

Looking up, Deborah
P.S.  I am working on the "one another's" and we CAN wear them because they look good on Christians!

1 comment:

  1. i hope you will get forgiveness for your choice of teams- football, basketball etc. For there is only 2 good teams in an event THE DAWGS AND WHO EVER IS PLAYING TECK


    your HANDY MAN, DAN

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