Half is still too much

For 18 months, Pete and I thought we were relocating outside of the US, so I was on a mission to get rid of our stuff.  Now I don't think of myself as a "stuff" person.  I don't like to give or get gifts of "stuff."  Give me a gift card for Starbucks or a massage and I am a happy girl.  Have someone come clean my bathrooms and I will weep. Stuff on the other hand isn't quite my thing, but somehow our family has accumulated WAY too much stuff.  I blame it on living in a house with a basement (it is a well known fact that junk breeds down there) and the children (little people come with SO much stuff!). 

So for 18 months I got rid of stuff.  I went closet to closet getting rid of half of the contents of every closet, cabinet, and drawer.   I had two HUGE garage sales.  My neighbors came and wondered where all the stuff had come from.  I didn't know.  At the second sale a woman approached me and asked in broken English, "they die here?"  It took me a minute.  "They die here?" she asked again. 

She thought we had DIED and it was an estate sale.  She thought we were selling the total possessions of a family. 

Oh, I was mortified...but mostly because the house was still full of stuff. 

When we found out that we were moving to Raleigh and would be in a rental home for up to a year, I once again went through all our stuff.  Half of our stuff would be unpacked, half would stay boxed ready to move again. 

So this is what our garage here looks like. 

The attic also looks like that...and half of the loft...and a lot of hidden little closets.  There are lots and lots of boxes waiting to be opened when we move again. 

Now six months into a life with half our stuff (actually about 1/4 compared to where we begin.)  I have come to three sad conclusions. 

1.  I don't miss anything that is sitting in one of those boxes. (I am not even sure what they are.)

2.  We unpacked too much stuff.  

3.  I can't remember a SINGLE item I sold at those two garage sales. 

I have started reading Jen Hatmaker's new book, 7:  An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.  The book chronicles Jen, her husband, and sometimes her children taking 7 months to confront head-on the excess of their very normal American lives.  For one month each, they GREATLY reduce their food, clothes, possessions, shopping, waste, media and stress.

Jen is a hilarious, honest and challenging voice in the Christian marketplace asking can we really say we follow Jesus while living in such enormous excess and waste.  It is something that is challenging me a lot these days.  My friend Amy suggested we do the 7 experiment and start with our hubbies' stuff.  Oh she is brilliant. 

Hang onto your computers babe, hide your bitty baby and her 76 coordinating outfits Emmie - Momma is on a roll ... apparently half is still too much. 

 



 



By-Product Blessings - a guest post by Amy Carroll

I asked my friend Amy Carroll if I could repost her blog about her family's first week into Our Salvation and Song.  I am so blessed to have other families reading along with us.  Although we are all on our own schedule and pace, it is such an encouragement to me (and some good accountability) to know other moms are out there each morning trying to get everyone to the table in time to read together. 

Amy Carroll is a speaker and writer with Proverbs 31 Ministries and is a speaking coach through Next Step Speaker Services.  I met Amy recently at a women's ministry luncheon.  Her eldest was leaving for college the next week, this immediately made me want to weep and wear sack cloth with her.  Oh I can't imagine, but I know the day will come!! But she seems to have survived this event and is doing Our Salvation and Song with her husband and teenage son.  I am so inspired by this because I have a bit of parenting tunnel vision.  I think of spiritual development in children as an elementary school thing - I have a hard time thinking ahead to the high school years.  But those years are on the way - so I better get ready! 

I hope Amy's message with encourage you to pick up or keep at the practice of daily bible reading as a family, whether your kids are 6 or 16 .... God has bountiful blessings waiting to pour onto your family. 

By-Product Blessings (originally posted @ www.amycarroll.org)  

Day 3. Check!

On Monday I wrote about our family's attempt at pre-school morning devotions. I thought that it was so interesting that my friend Lynn Cowell wrote about the same thing for Encouragement for Today this morning. 

Lest you start to think that our family is super-spiritual, let me just get the truth out there. Morning 3 of the alarm clock was way harder than morning 1. Also, I don't have a great track record for finishing what I've started. If you've ever wondered why I start series on things like wunning or memorizing James and then you don't hear anymore...is that enough of a confession?

But there is already a byproduct of our morning devotions that is unexpected and wonderful enough to keep me going--hearing Nolan pray. I'm gaining encouragement, spiritual insight and a glimpse at my boy's heart that is both surprising and delightful.

As the boys have gotten older and have started having their own prayer and Bible reading time, our family prayer time has fallen off, but the last three mornings have reminded me of why it's so important. I thought I'd be modeling prayer, but it turns out that I'm the learner!

I'd love to hear your family devotions stories. How do you follow through and keep going even with busy schedules?

Sarah's Hand-Me-Down Store

Being the little sister myself, I have a soft spot for the fact that Sarah (9) shops at the mall, and Emily (6) shops in the basement.  A few years ago, in order to soothe my guilt, I started having Sarah set up Sarah's Hand-Me-Down Store.  Sarah does a great job and takes a lot of pride in organizing "this season's fashions," as she calls her old clothes.  She organizes everything by type of clothes, gives Emily a purse full of change and coupons, and acts as Emily's personal shopper. 

Sarah's Hand-Me-Down shop does three things for me. 
1.  It makes hand-me-downs exciting to Emily.
2. It gives Emily a say in her clothes.  If she won't "buy" something, I just donate it because I know she is never going to put it on. 
3.  It makes Sarah a more grateful child when she does get to go to the mall shopping. 

A few weeks ago my niece Barrett was here visiting.  She and Emily are both entering first grade.  Barrett is the big sister at her house, so it was a great novelty for her to get to go shopping with Emily at Sarah's store.  Sarah gave them both a purse full of change and they went wild! 

My mom and I had a great time watching Emily and Barrett try on one thing after the next. 




The girls found church dresses,















and matching dresses,











and a whole bunch of other stuff. 













When they were done shopping it was time to pay up.  I think each of their totals, after discounts and coupons (oh it's so embarrassing what I teach them!!)  was about $.63. 

How does your family handle the hand-me downs?  I have taken off the blog comment setting that I think were causing all the issues of late.  So give commenting a try again and let me know!