I'm sure that God has a plan for everything but it doesn't mean that situations are always easy.
This photo is taken from my living room looking into the kitchen. Yep, boxes and mess everywhere! We've been at it for over a week straight now but that's what we get for hauling everything with us during nearly twenty-nine years of marriage and only two homes. Yikes! One thing I will tell you is this: if you are a sentimental "saver" of everything, get rid of it now!!! Seriously, this has been one of the most grueling experiences of my life. Not only is the sorting, giving-away, throwing-away, boxing, etc, difficult physically, but the emotions are raw and running wild as I sort through the details of my life's treasures which create all kinds of memories. Not to mention that we are significantly "down-sizing" into a two bedroom apartment! Why oh why did I spend sooo many years collecting "stuff"?! The great news is that by this weekend we will have all of it boxed and gone.
"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
Of course I realize that people move every day, in every way. I've moved churches, professions, families, and more around in the past five years. I am seriously over it! All the change! I'm back to saying that it's never easy to say good-bye. It's kind of like a death and a new beginning all over again. To read my original post, "When Is It Ever Easy To Say Good-Bye?" click here.
I am thankful for the times I've had here, raising my children and building a family. Would it have been any easier to move last year or in five or ten more years? I think not. I will continue to try and take one day at a time: enjoy life and thank God for all of my continued blessings and experiences.
Now you know why I haven't been working on my website lately!
I will be back with you for "The Call" on August 15th at 6pm PDT. Join my husband and I. Maybe we will have Pastor Bobby back to talk about "Shepard's Grove." All you need is a phone. Call in at 6pm PDT sharp. 530-881-1300. When prompted enter your code: 642848#
To contact me please email: donna@donnaschuller.com
"I'm sure that God has a plan for everything but it doesn't mean that situations are always easy".
ReplyDeleteI saw a TV commercial about the priceless memories that houses hold; figuratively and literally. In the commercial the woman takes one last look and sees the kitchen cupboard door with the markings of the height and names of children and grandchildren. At the end of the commercial her husband shows the new kitchen of their new place and he has brought and installed the precious door with those markings. The sense of losing the "spirit" is agonizing to feel it is being lost perhaps.
A house is not a thing alone, nor are the contents. It is the "place" and times shared there and those "times" are forever with us. I too dread leaving our house that we have had for 34 years and you are right! Too much stuff. We actually started finding "stuff" in closets and drawers that we just do not need (forgot about) and someone can "use" them so though we too have so much from 'our kids 35 years ago school drawings' to my golf clubs I will not ever use again. Why do we hang on to these "things" ? We long for the past in our present I guess. But the past is already integrated into who we are.
I love that my Mum and Dad wrote a few pages about their early life and family I never met and a house I now have visited where I was born in the upstairs room in London. I need to write that sort of story for my Grandkids to read one day and tales of their times in this house that will be sold one day soon..
My good thoughts and prayers are of you and Robert as you move on and God will use you there with new friends and community. HE needs you. We need you. If you are not writing, we know you are doing something HE needs you for and that is good.
Jan-Michael
I'm sending you a hug! Moving can be emotionally draining. My dad was in the military and I moved many times and when I was younger I found it very thrilling a new adventure around every corner. When I had my own family I wanted something different. I wanted my girls to go to the same schools with the same friends and I thought we were going to do that when we lived in Texas. Then we had to move to Washington state and I thought my world was coming to an end. Instead of turning it all over to God I just got angry and stayed angry for some time. How silly!
ReplyDeleteOne bright note, because I moved so often I have never been attached to things because we were always cleaning out before each move. I have a hubby and girls who are collectors so it has been hard to have stuff, stored here and there. In the last two years hubby and I have started to clean out and yes, the memories are very powerful but I keep reminding myself about Matthew 6:vs 19 and 20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Dana
What wonderful and inspirational words! I have printed this page out to keep with me. Will be going through the same experience soon and your words will make it a little easier.
ReplyDelete