Our Journey to Minimalism: Off to a Flying Stop

So, I woke up the next morning and decided to start getting rid of things.  Because, naturally, that's what you do when you want to become a minimalist, right?  I decided on my storage room since it, obviously, had things I wasn't using.  If nothing else, the sheer volume of things should mean I could get rid of a bunch of it.  I walked into the room, and just stood there-frozen.

Now, it wasn't a matter of being unwilling to part with my things.  I'd already decided to become a minimalist, you can read about the reasons in the last post, our journey to minimalism.  I was passionate about parting with things, I wanted to get rid of it all.  So, I should have been able to walk in, find THOUSANDS of things to let go of and be free of my possessions in just a couple days time.  I didn't want it, could replace most of the needed items easily, and should be left with just a few bins of sentimental items.

I wish that is what had happened.  Instead, I was so overwhelmed that it crushed my spirit.  I stood there, and stood there, and stood there.

"Pray."  Was the only thought that I could muster.  So, I started.  "Lord, please help me."

One of those moments that I didn't even know what I was praying for.  I just needed help.  With His help, I was able to find a bag or two of things and then resolved for a break.

As I sat down in my living room, I was quite astonished by what had just happened.  I wanted to get rid of things, I had tons of things I knew I could part with, yet there was still a store room (and many other rooms) bursting with things that could go.  Why was it still here?  Part of me wanted to just give up entirely.

I turned to my husband and asked him just that.  He chuckled.  "Well, you didn't bring it all in at once, how do you expect to take it all out at once?  We could rent a dumpster or higher a u-haul to drag it all off at once, but for this to work long time, this has to be a process."

He was right.  {yes it's in writing, honey, you were right}

I couldn't just toss it all at once.  For this journey to be a success, I had to painstakingly go through everything and get rid of it properly.  There was no 'easy fix.'  Mary Poppins wasn't going to come in and snap her fingers.  This was going to take time.

When I told God 'here I am send me,' I didn't realize I was being sent into the depths of my storeroom.  But, that was where I was being called.  Not to reach people, but so that I could clear away the STUFF that was keeping me from doing the real work He had called me to do.

When I realized this wasn't going to be an easy calling, I was a bit daunted, and discouraged.  But, deep down, I was, and am still, very excited.  I can't wait to see how God uses this journey in the lives of my children and in others that we meet along the way.

I hope you will consider joining me, or at least following along with our journey.

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless!