Well, soon we won't have space--5 months from now, in fact, when we leave this place and move back to Thailand. So, we are re-arranging the basement to make a storage room while we are gone. What a challenge!
I used the word, "purge." The word is defined as: "to rid (someone) of an unwanted feeling, memory, or condition, typically giving a sense of cathartic release." Is that what I am doing? Am I purging? Well, I am ridding myself of the unwanted condition of a mess in the basement. But I have NO desire to rid myself of the feelings and memories found in my basement, not just from the last five years but from years of memories found in photo albums, in items from Thailand or the Philippines sitting on shelves or hanging on walls, in totes full of our children's lives. I never want to be purged from that. I WANT to keep those memories and feelings. No, I want to be purged from the unwanted, bad things, not the good things.(Above images: Kids being silly in a photo booth; James' 4th grade Science project)
Funny--that's exactly what God calls us to do in our faith-lives. In Romans 12:2 He says, "Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect." He asks us to get rid of the old junk and renew our minds. To keep what is good and well-pleasing and perfect but throw out the junk. Sorting through stuff in the basement has given me a fresh understanding of what that means. And it doesn't just happen all at once. Oh yes, some things are easily tossed with a twist of the wrist. Other things like writings and papers, require sifting through, require perseverance. It is the same in our lives. Perseverance in purging can be painstaking but it is worth it. The beautiful thing is, God is not absent in and through it all. His presence is a promise of hope. So whether it's purging physical junk or purging spiritual junk, He is with us. Realizing that just makes me love Him more.
And now I must get back to my basement--to enjoy the good feelings, memories, items, and throw out the useless, hindering junk.
1 comment:
I have trouble facing up to my own junk - physical and spiritual. It's embarrassing. (And I don't have a beautiful shimmering purple cloth to draw attention away from it, like you do, Connie!).
Sometimes the Lord points out some spiritual junk and I want to turn around and climb back upstairs and ignore it. He keeps pointing it out though, until I, yes, purge what needs to be purged.
Great analogy, Connie. It gives me some good visuals as the Lord deals with my junk.
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