Conquer the Clutter!

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This week I conquered a corner of my closet. Giving those size 10 jeans and anything medium to my granddaughters was way overdue. So was passing on my two inch stilts to more stable soles. Result: unstuffed closet and delight in sharing what I don’t need; giving away my unused belongings to someone who can benefit from them.

Even a brief scan of our lives will reveal our closets aren’t the only place we need to cut back. Conquering our cluttered lives will open the way for simple joys. What delight awaits us when we curtail the chaos of an overstuffed life!

But before we can enjoy an uncrammed life, we need to accept reality. In my case, I am an octogenarian, not a girl in junior high. My energy has ebbed. Overdrive has been replaced with compound low. I still love family gatherings. Being with young people helps keep me young. But I also know it is unwise to try to keep up with them.

I’m finally accepting that losing my extra ten pounds is not wise–especially since I landed in the hospital three times last year…

The truth–contrary to the cry of our culture–one’s weight is not one’s worth! (Just think of how many people we could help if the money spent by millions to lose weight was funneled into food for the planet’s hungry,  starving people.)

Let’s make peace not only with our thighs, but also with our time of life. Let’s plunge into living the joy of loving God and people! Let’s lift our eyes from focusing on our tummy buttons to the Lord and the world full of people to meet, bless, comfort, enjoy, and pray for and pray with!

Join me in celebrating God’s promise to seniors, “They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing…” (Psalm 92:14, NKJV) God’s Word does not depend on how healthy our bodies are. He does His best work through weak people!

When the Apostle Paul begged God to remove the cause of his suffering. Then God told him, “My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, MSG)

As soon as Paul realized there was purpose in his pain, his attitude did a 180. “Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, MSG)

What limitations are you and I bemoaning? Let’s ask God to open our eyes to see our restrictions as His opportunities to show off His strength. Today is a good day to say farewell to fussing over what was and to embrace the reality of what is!

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