We’ve been going 90 to nothing since last Friday trying to get our house “show-ready” to sell.
Sisters… seriously? This. Is. A. Ton. Of. Work!
We knew our first order of business was to clean out the open space in the basement so we could begin to store our stuff. To make things easier, I rented a 12’L x 6’W x 4’D dumpster.
I looked at the size of that and thought, “Should have gotten a smaller one. No way will we fill this!”
But fill it we did!
And then some.
Yuck. I felt so dirty and disgusting as I stood there looking at all that… garbage. I said to Wayner, “How did we have all that in our house and not know it?”
He responded, “We just got used to it.”
You see, we got used to having that stuff around. We each brought some of it into the marriage. Over the years, we’d collected even more together.
And it became so familiar that we were able to look past it. We’d discussed cleaning things out before, but decided it was too much work.
So we left it alone.
But when God called us to move, we had to deal with all this… stuff. It was weighing us down. It look much time and effort to sift through and remove it. It slowed the process of moving forward.
Are you tracking with me?
Sisters, our hearts are just like that. We have years and years and years of nasty stuff taking up space.
- Old woundings
- Bad memories
- Aggressive reactions
- Easy triggers
- Hateful thoughts
And when God calls us to move, all that stuff slows the process down because we have to spend time cleaning it all out. We find ourselves tired and weary and distracted from the move.
Here is where I am trying to go with this.
Friends, we need to let God deal with our stuff now. Rather than store up those hurts… rather than collect those offenses… rather than allow dust to settle on our unforgiveness… we need to throw it in the Dumpster.
And that Dumpster miraculously takes it all away.
You’ll never have to deal with it again.
But you’ve got to be willing to identify the garbage. You have to be the one who walks the path to the Dumpster. It’s your hands that have to release it so it can be taken away.
Sisters… maybe it’s time to take out the trash.
©2011 careyscotttalks.com
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Yes! Yes! Yes! Carey – Love it when God reinforces a message. I am sharing along these same lines today at our MomsNext group at church. “Overlooking” an offense means you really have to overlook, not collect! Great picture of our hearts. Thanks for your insight.
Cheryl, I love it as well when God’s Spirit gives the same messages to His children at the same time. I’m sure you blessed the MomsNext group with your words!
I love how God doesn’t want us to just notice or identify the trash – we can’t just bring it out of the basement look at it and leave it there or we will eventually get used to the smell. God requires of us – action – to move our garbage (thoughts, pains, memories, etc) – and bring it to the foot of His cross. What a great reminder for today – need to evaluate areas in my life that are getting a tad funky smelling!
Ignoring is so much easier on the front end, right Jeanelle? But man, we certainly pay on the back end. We need to get that funky smell out da door!
Thank you Carey a great reminder and awesome visual!
Lynnette, thanks for stopping by today!
Love this! I spend so much time organizing and cleaning out my house but never MYSELF. About time I get my priorities in order!!
I know, Elizabeth. Easier to not connect with those emotions… me, too. But oh how good it is when we do!
You are amazing and I am so blessed to call you friend!
Ah, Sherry. I feel the same way. So grateful for you!
Truly awesome and well said. I can relate in both ways – I’m moving next week and I am seeing the necessity and joy of letting ‘stuff’ go immediately. I don’t like my house cluttered…and neither my heart.
Wanza… yes, you are tracking with me! Blessings on your move!