on letting the dead things go

Over the last few months, I’ve been on a quest to simplify my life and my home.  Anything that isn’t used regularly, loved, or of great sentimental value has been getting tossed, donated, or sold. Every time a box of “stuff” that I once thought was essential to my life, leaves my home, I can feel my soul sighing in relief. This is a huge work in progress – my biggest obstacle to accomplishing this monumental task is time (hello, “three kids under five”) My spirit feels lighter, my head clearer, my time a tad less chaotic, now that there is less “stuff” in my home. This exercise is teaching me that I’d rather have two sweaters I really love than 10 I only sort of like. It’s teaching our family about quality over quantity. And…its been teaching me a few more, unexpected lessons, too.

This process of purging has caused me to dwell on the pruning of my spirit that God is in the business of. Little by little, He works away on my stubborn, prideful, fearful heart. He is chipping away at insecurities, doubts, and worries. All of the things that He tells me are unnecessary to a life that is built on trust in Him. This year, I didn’t make any other resolutions other than to be more open to the work He’s doing in my life and my heart. Oh, how much easier this is to say than it actually is to do. I’ve made strides in my confidence as a woman and as a parent over the last five years, only because I’ve had to daily tell myself that His opinion of me matters so much more than others'. In the past, a comment about the way I parent, or the amount of pictures I post of my kids (for the love) would have affected me deeply. But over time, I’ve worked at letting Him into those places of insecurity instead of allowing the words of others to drag me down. It’s so easy to backslide in this. But I know He’s calling me to do the hard work of letting him prune, simply out of his deep love for me. So, I’m pushing onward, doing my very best to  let go of anything that is not life giving, that robs me of joy and hope, that doesn’t point me, always, towards the one who made me.

Happy 2017, friends.