Bag Lady

Back when I was in elementary school my gramma told me, "When you get
older, the weeks will fly by and the months and years as well."  I couldn't imagine it!

Well, of course she was right!


Friday, here it is again! Cinnamon Roll Friday at the Larson's.  Thankful for the round cans...
I started this tradition when the boys went to St. Mary's as a celebration that they made it through another week of school!  I made up 2 cans of rolls so the boys could bring some wrapped in tinfoil for
warmth conservation to Sharon,  the bus driver.  Fun memories...I bet she misses them.  :)


How are y'all doing on the bags?  I started a challenge of 40 bags in 40 days!  This means that you clean
out an area every day for 40 days, put in a bag, and get rid of it.

In my datebook I have written what the I have purged each day starting Monday, January 27.

Bag #1 Purses

#2 Jackets

#3 Bags (a bag of bags! Ha!)

#4 Donation of Mary & Martha to St. Mary's

#5 Luggage

#6 will be Bag of old hangers


I tell you...this is addicting!  In a good way, of course.  Liberating.

Here are a couple of books I have read on this clutter issue. I like to get
the Kindle Version books...less to de-clutter later!!!


If I am so Smart Why Can't I get rid of this Clutter, Sallie Felton
http://www.salliefeltonlifecoach.com/blog

Miss Minimalist, Francine Jay (now this one is a little more radical...but thought provoking)

There is plenty said about possessions in The Word as well!

Luke 12:33-34

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

³³ “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  Winging It: Hard Sayings - "Sell all your possessions"

The above is a blog I found on this subject.  Good read.


So, where is your treasure Amy?  This is definitely a heart issue to be examined.
Search me, and know my heart of God, test me and know my anxious thoughts. Ps 139:23

Happy Weekend everyone!

Sincerely yours...The Bag Lady ;)

Amy

Haphazard Thoughts

As promised...the final look in the front closet.  Lots of sizes and seasons left, but I feel pretty good about the purge and organization. 

How many of you took my challenge this week to clean out a closet or drawer?  I know of one gal (June) that tackled a whole room!  Rock on!  Let me know about your success, if you have plans to keep going, or want to give it a try again. 

I was reminded by Ashlie on Facebook today of a challenge I did a year or 2 ago. I had gotten the idea from a post I had seen I think. 
It was called 40 bags in 40 days.  Meaning get rid of a bag of stuff every day for 40 days!  It doesn't have to be a huge bag. I think the idea behind this is to be aware of the stuff we hang on to.  From expired salad dressing in the refrigerator to the free lipstick that came as a gift with purchase that you will never wear, to the junk drawer where half the pens don't write or torn out recipes from the magazine you will never use!  Let yourself let go! 40 days brings us to March 6th.  I may be traveling on some of these days so I think another bag I will add to my list will be the hoards of emails I have sitting in my inbox...let's see, how many deletes count as a bag?  40?  Who's in?

Two things I wanted to clarify from previous posts...
1. What is a 2x4?
2. What is this prayer about the scarf?

1. 2x4 When I refer to this I am speaking of a time when I believe that the Lord finally allows a significant event, disappoint, painful experience, or health issue before I will "get it!" Or He has placed several people in my life to tell me the SAME thing at different times!  The "get it/2x4" part is when I take the hint and know it's from Him!  It could be He wants me to draw closer to Him, go against the norm (home school), change from everything I have known (new church), or even sometimes as minor as praying about a scarf. 

2. I was at a women's retreat several years ago when I was first exploring this new found personal relationship with the Lord stuff.  I had always prayed but the gal that was speaking in our small group started talking about praying for the family dog; praying that he would stop running away. The neighbors were out of patience.  I listened intently and quietly thought to myself, " Has this woman gone off her rocker?  Pray about the dog staying in the yard?" Well, when she got to the end of her story I learned that the Lord does care about these details of our lives. He answered her prayer and the dog no longer runs.
After this realization of my preconceived  notions of our the Lord...I started practicing this pray about everything idea. (Phil 4:6)
I have received a lot of great answers to what I thought at the time were simple, ridiculous prayers. I now know He cares about the details. This became obvious the night when I was trying to go outside my comfort zone and wear brown and black at the same!  I only did this because I had this fabulous scarf that would pull the whole outfit together.  Come to look for it...and Gone!  Gone!  I warned my hubby, "OK dear, have patience with me. I have to change my whole outfit!"  Then it occurred to me out of the blue that first I should say a quick prayer, so I did.  I walked past my dresser and this "thought" came into my head..."behind the drawer".  I stopped, looked up and thought...no way.  But instead of disregarding the "thought" completely, I had Doug reach his much longer arms down behind the dresser drawer and at first nothing...and I said, forget it, it was a crazy "thought".  And then, he said, Oh wait...and out he pulls the exact scarf that was missing.  The exact scarf that would pull my whole outfit together. Wowza!   My God even cares about my matchy-match obsession. He cares about me and the joy the scarf brought me in that moment! 

So, there you have some more ramblings of Amy.
I hope you are blessed by the haphazardness!

Onward ho...
Bag # 1...
Amy

Front Closet Fanatics

It's hard for me to admit this mess. The over indulgence of items in ONE closet.  Granted, many of the jackets, caps, and bags were free...but most were purchases.  These pictures are from when I cleaned everything out and then sorted.  I made piles and went forward.  I enlisted the help of the family.  It's so interesting how some members are attached to items because of the memories that go with them and others not so much.  My hubby is especially attached to the jacket he received when he bought his first tractor...and then there is the jacket from Las Vegas that he purchased on our free trip, and the jean jacket from 1990 that brings back memories of being cool back in 7th grade.  And don't get me started on the free baseball caps! 

My goal and mission to purge, organize, and beautify runs into mind/people blockers. 

1. Emotional attachment x 4 members of the family

2. Desire to accommodate possible guests for snow fun

3. I might use "this" again

4. "I can use it for everyday...or in the shop so that after getting the jacket full of grease I can justify disposal"

5. Uninterested parties

6. Guilt...I spent good money on this.

7. I might gain the weight back and this coat will fit again

But I tell you what...I am tenacious, stubborn and a goal setter. Not to mention I have all of YOU I am accountabble to!  And I am thankful.

Every good and perfect gift is from above...James 1

Stay tuned for the reveal...

Share your success..the drawer, closet, cupboard, desk...tell me about your blockers.

Amy

Ok, so let's talk about Clutter

It is January after all.  Time to start new. Time to start purging closets, drawers, cupboards, and book shelves.
How does this happen?  Why is there always stuff to purge?

What is the definition of this word clutter.
Clutter verb \ˈklə-tər\

: to fill or cover (something) with many things : to fill or cover (something) with clutter

Clutter noun

: a large amount of things that are not arranged in a neat or orderly way : a crowded or disordered collection of things

: a collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.

Clutter is any distraction that gets in the way of a remarkable life. Clutter doesn’t have to be physical — you can have time clutter or mental clutter or even bad processes that qualify as clutter.  (definition taken from www.unclutterer.com)

We shall start working on this together.  Let's see...a challenge, an accountability. Comment if you are in!

How about this...let's pick one closet or cupboard to start AND finish this week.
I pick my front closet.
Directions:
1. Take everything out.
2. Have BLACK bags handy. Black is so you don't look into it after placing items into bag.
3. Make piles.
   a. Keep
   b. Throw
   c. Return to correct spot
   d. Salvation Army or other place to donate.
   e. Give to friend or family member that may get use out of item/items.
4. Have tape measure handy to measure shelves so you know what size container you may want to purchase to organize mittens, scarves, tools, etc.
5. Note pad and pen
6. Get all family members involved when their items are being sorted. Have them make decisions about their "stuff" too.

We can do this thing.  Let's start small. Deal a little bit with the physical clutter. Celebrate our successes and keep going. Eventually we will talk about the mental clutter...

Think about what you are thinking about.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. Romans 12:2

Our world says...More is better.  Instead replace with Less is More. (I quote this often from my English teacher Mr. Walker...he always said I used too much flowery in my writing!)
Less is More.

Knock this one out girlfriend (and guys too),

Amy

Hey, what is this thing called a hashtag?  #clutter #lessismore  I do not know what I'm doing?

Closet Clutter

Have you ever gone to a Tour of Homes and walked past a door that had a sign "Not part of tour"?  I have and I tell you my curiosity gets the best of me.  Ok, so what is she hiding behind that door. Does she have a big mess she is trying to hide?  I bet she does. I just want to see it so I can feel better about my messes behind closed doors.

Oh boy!  Closets, storage rooms, the junk drawer...ok, I admit it and I hope you do too; we all have them.  I just found some items in the pantry that I tucked away because I was getting guests.  Good grief!  Hey, we are all imperfect!  I need to keep telling myself that it is ok to not be perfect.  Stop looking at Martha Stewart magazines, Real Organized and all of these things can really make us all feel inadequate.

I am taking a Brene Brown course via Oprah. #OLCBreneCourse  I book is entitled Gift of Imperfections.
As part of the class we must do journaling, artwork and take pictures! 
It's been a good week of getting started with digging deeper into the deep, dark closets of the heart and mind and spirit!  Wow, lots of stored up lies, beliefs, untruths, fear, anxiety, shame...it's scary, but very, very good.
Good to admit I have closets full of junk.
Good to admit I am scared.
Good to know I am not alone.
Good to know...I am enough.

This has all been head knowledge and true all along.  Jesus is just chiseling away at the layers one at a time in this journey. I am thankful for each step.  Each and every person that has been a part; even the 2x4's the Lord sometimes has to use before I finally "get it". 

Thank You for Your truths. Ps 8:4-5  What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?  For You have made him/her a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him/her with glory and honor.  We are all enough. We are nearly angels.  And that is enough!

Cleaning out the closets...it is good,
Amy

Writer's Block

So, how often is a person supposed  to blog? What is this fog called a blogosphere?

I started a post the other day and became distracted.  
Does this ever happen to you?  I sit down to do something, the dryer bings.  On the way to the dryer I see the dishes piling up on the counter so decide to load the dishwasher only to find it hasn't been unloaded.  So I start to unload. Then I get a text message come through and I can't keep myself from taking a look to see who's thinking of me...And so about 1.5 hours later I remember I was going to fold the clothes in the dryer and they are all wrinkled so I hit the "touch up" cycle.  Walk back to the kitchen to find the dishwasher drawer is still open and on and on it goes.  

What's this got to do with blogging?  Maybe it's part of the reason it took me so long to start doing one. Commitment, perseverance, see a project through to the end...yes, I can do all of these things. I have been married for 25 years; that should say something to all of the above listed!    

Today in my devotional I am reminded that when I sink under the weight of the to do list and become a bit frazzled I need to utter simple words, "help me Jesus." Little mini-prayers throughout the day. Like, "OK, Lord, what was it that I was doing?, Help me find that receipt Doug is looking for...." After asking, slow down, be still and listen. I have learned this to be true. Slow down and listen. Quit the frenzy of the never ending chores and stop, drop (if possible to your knees) and truly listen.  He will and does answer in the Spirit.  Remind me to tell you about the scarf He found for me because I asked...

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in! Heb 12:2

Focusing, focusing,
Amy

Here we go!

Well, here I go. My first blog entry...ever.
Others might say I have been blogging for weeks as I typed updates during my sister's hospitalization and the faith journey it creates when you are praying for a miracle.  

Thank you Lord, that you answered our prayer requests to "knock the socks off of the doctors and nurses!" My heart overflows with gratitude, humility, and relief.  

So, I started listening to what people were saying as they posted on CaringBridge. 
"Thank you Amy for sharing your faith, updating us on Sarah's condition, you made me think..."
And words of encouragement from an unexpected source, "you have a gift!"  Thank you Al!

I started a blog about this time last year. New Year's Resolution...not followed through on. I have been urged for years by a dear friend to start this journey.
And you know what stopped me?  Fear. Fear of failing, fear of no one caring to read it, fear of not keeping up with it, fear of negative comments.  Yep, paralyzed by fear.  

So here I am with sweaty armpits, teary eyes and a bit of shaking as I face this fear. Geez!  The physical symptoms I get from the uncomfortableness of stepping outside of my comfort zone...it's quite something.

Do not fear, for I am with you.  Is 41:10
Do not be anxious for anything, but pray about everything. Phil 4:6 (my paraphrase)
These are common scriptures I repeat to myself...and yet there is something that still gets me about failure. And so...as I was searching for fear, afraid, and anxious verses I found the flip side of this...

Now fear the Lord and serve Him with faithfulness. Josh 24:14  Fear HIM!  Amy, perhaps all of these urgings from friends and family were HIS 2x4 to realize this isn't about Me...duh! It's about Him. It's about blessing others, showing vulnerability, going out on a limb, sharing my faith, bring Him to a new light for others.  

So, so glad He is faithful and doesn't give up on me but instead after all my "failings" keeps after me, refining me loving me, answering prayers, taking me back after I get off the altar a bazillion times.

It's good, it's very, very good.
And my heart rate has slowed down since I got my mind off of myself...hmmm...

Hanging on for the ride,
Amy