Out With the Old, In With the New

My wife and I have been selling old clothes and furniture on eBay, Craigslist, and at our recent yard sale. It's amazing how much cash we've been able to earn by getting rid of old (mostly nice) stuff! We'll soon be able to complete our overhaul of the living room, all without a budget line for that purpose--and without going into debt.

We're doing this for two reasons: 1) to make money to purchase a new piece of furniture for the living room and a flat-panel tv (now strongly considering a plasma over an LCD!), and 2) to downsize and purge! (As a side note, this process has also afforded me the opportunity to do something I wouldn't have otherwise done: engineer and build a pair of book shelves modeled after a similar structure Jessie saw at an Anthropologie store. This was an adventure, a test, and at times a frustrating learning experience that deserves its own entry; perhaps I'll get to that a later date!)

My wife is exceptionally effective at getting rid of things. This was an adjustment when we got married, and is still sometimes a challenge 10 years later. (I have been known to pull things from the garbage that she discarded. I don't even want to think about the spiritual implications of that!) I will add that I'm grateful for this quality in her. I used to be a hoarder, and still lean in that direction. Jessie helps me lean the opposite direction and it's done me good. There's still plenty of "stuff" that I really like to have and hang onto, but I'm much better at letting go of those kinds of things today than I was several years back.

All of this has got me thinking about the last two verses from Psalm 139: David asks God, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." David doesn't suggest what that "hurtful way" might be because he's waiting on God to reveal it to him. In my life, I think of it in terms of broken places in my heart and mind that hurt others and/or hurt me.

I've been doing a self-inventory lately because God has revealed to me (and in me) a "hurtful way" that I was previously unaware of. While I never look forward to discovering "new" undesirables in my soul, I do look forward to God purging my life of those undesirables. As I rummage through all the stuff in our closets, drawers and garage, I'm also asking God to do the same in my heart. I'm eager to trade that stuff for His everlasting way; it's the way that leads to fullness of life. (Oh, and I'm looking forward to that plasma tv, too!)