Dear Friends,
Today I worshiped at church…
Today I relaxed in my stretchy pants…
Today I ate yummy leftovers…
Today was a low stress day…
And then…
My biggest accomplishment turned into cleaning the refrigerator. Not because I planned to clean the refrigerator…absolutely NOT! Really who plans to clean their refrigerator? I mean I know organized household experts plan it on a rotational cleaning schedule. I have written those down, Emily Barnes style…then Fly Lady…then my style…then somebody else’s style. Reality is I clean it when I have to! When it NEEDS it! Today obviously was that day. As I was trying to put away the leftovers from our leftover meal. I guess now they are double leftovers!
Anyway, as I was trying to clear them off the counters I noticed that the refrigerator’s glass shelving needed a wipe. I pulled that one out and washed it, but then made the mistake of glancing in the produce drawer. The ‘not so’ fresh spinach had wilted and left a brown runny mess in the bottom of the draw. I pulled that out only to discover the fruit drawer had crumbs in the bottom of it. By this time, I had the refrigerator unloaded and most of the shelves and drawers out on the floor. The high-tech door was beeping at me telling me it had been left open for too long… If it only knew I would reset it 4 more times before the job was complete.
Long ago I heard the advice to store your like items in baskets or bins so they can easily be pulled out together. For years we had a ‘salad bin’ that held all our dressings and was easy to lift out. Somehow we got away from that. Today I got inspired however to regroup things into baskets. I like the look of the gray woven plastic baskets, inexpensive from Dollar General yet easy to clean up. I ran up and got a few more hoping it helps corral the mess.
Reality is that I love neat and organized spaces, but it is difficult with a household this size. We still have 7 people sharing 2000 sq foot. HUGE in terms of other parts of the world, but seemingly crowded at times around here. (When Millie was born we had 10 that lived here!). We just have too much JUNK that we might need ‘some day’. It does not bring us JOY, rather it gives me stress figuring out were to store it in case we might eventually use it and if we should keep it because it was somebody else’s special thing.
In the book “Little House on the Prairie”, Ma had the China Shepherdess that was so dearly kept and displayed at each new home. Because their family was so incredibly poor, they had almost nothing of value and this became a treasured object. ONE…not ten or two hundred treasured objects, but ONE! Families today have hundreds of treasures to pass on. What they are really passing on many times is burdens. As people age they often can not part with an item so they believe they should give it to a family member. Or sometimes we receive a houseful of items upon someone’s death and then we get to make the hard decision of what to keep.
When my paternal grandparents passed away, I received all the household goods. I set back a few items for family members in case they wanted something, but the majority of the stuff I had to deal with. My grandma was a fantastic bargain hunter. Her home was packed FULL of beautiful things, china, crystal, figurines, paintings, craft projects, and more. Some of it held wonderful memories of past times together. The Christmas village that she hand-painted. The ceramic nativity that we put out each year. One of those little snow-covered ceramic trees complete with lights on each branch. The Dessert Rose china we used for everyday meals and crystal goblets we drank tea from and so much more. She had enough to fill multiple homes. Three couches, 4 easy chairs, 2 dining tables, three bedrooms full of furniture…and 100 pieces of matching crystal. There was no way I could keep it all!
Each of the objects represented beauty to her. They represented hard work, a successful life, and even a little bit of pride in having nice things. Most of those objects represent burden to me.
Not because they are not beautiful, they are!
Not because they have no value, they do!
Not because they are not useful, some are!
But because they are not my choice. If I fill my life with someone else’s dream items, does it leave any room for MY DREAMS? I have held onto so many things because ‘they belonged to grandma’ but they take up space and the majority I do not even use. I do not host formal dinner parties (probably never will!) but if you come to my house I would love to serve you a casual meal. I hope soon it will be on dishes I CHOOSE to buy. I love the crystal pieces, but even after selling half her collection, I still have 49 pieces. We broke one years ago. We use about 10 of them and the rest are covered in 15+ year old dust.
Now do not believe that I am one to throw things out because they are old. I enjoy the handmade quilts my maternal grandmother made for me. I have a very antique quilt that my paternal great grandmother made and was passed down to me. I have a beautiful, crocheted doily on my dresser top from my paternal great grandmother, along with a grandmother’s flower garden pattern quilt she made from double knit…it is virtually indestructible. I love older generations items IF they have a use and a purpose in my life. I need to find beauty, function, and storage or they become something more to cause stress as we attempt to move, organize, dust, remove, carefully store, dust, etc. A never-ending cycle of using my time and energy for nothing!
My greatest treasures I have from my grandmothers are photos that I placed in an album and then sat with them to get the story correct. They tell the unique lives these ladies lived. They tell the hopes and dreams they had. They confidently share that each of my grandmas LOVED JESUS. These books allow my children to ‘meet’ my grandmas in a way a glass bowl never would.
Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot.”
Proverbs 22:1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches; favor is better than silver and gold.”
Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
I will be working to pare my house down of unused items over the next few months…
I have some decorating plans that call to my style but I don't want to start until things are cleaned out.
As you look around your home, what have you inherited that was somebody else’s dream that you now store?
If you are older what is your thoughts on inheriting homes full of stuff or leaving homes full for your kids to sort through?
Blessings sweet friends…
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
I still believe in Millie’s Miracle
｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ Hebrews 11:1 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
︵‿︵‿୨☆୧‿︵‿︵
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