I should...

How many times have you caught yourself starting a sentence in this way?
I should...
go to that meeting.
clean out the refrigerator.
organize my photos.
exercise.
drink more water.
do devotions.
stop beating myself up.

I should.  I read about this in a book several years back.
I should means I could if I wanted to.
Interesting.  You can finish each sentence above with that ending, I could if I wanted to.

This week, see if you catch yourself starting a sentence or even a thought with "I should" and replace it with "I WILL".  And if you truly don't want to do that particular thing, then don't. But perhaps quit kidding yourself by saying you should.

If you have read my blog from the beginning you will know that I have been on a journey of change.  A lot has to do with changing the negative self talk. Habits that need to be constantly in check.
Change is hard.
Change is work.
Change is a challenge.

This gets me to the why of the 2000 items in 2015.  (Letting go of 2000 items out of house.)
Change.  It's time to change my/our thinking.
Let's spend some time figuring out the why behind our stuff. 

Discontent
For those that watch Downton Abbey you may have seen this week's episode.  One of my favorite parts is when a sweet young gal named Daisy who works as the cook's assistant gets a day away from the daily work. She went with other staff to look at paintings in London.  She felt joy at seeing all there is to see outside the daily grind and yet the next emotion was resentment and she said she felt "discontented". 

Luke 12:15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
1 Tim 6:6-7 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 

We live in a world bombarding us with images and advertising. All in the effort to fuel our desire for happiness and contentment.  If we look this way or decorate that way then we will be accepted. If we have this and have that then we will have joy. If we go here or go there we will finally be at peace!  Ha!  It's all a lie.  There is but One way to fill that void for contentment. Truth.

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying we can't go on vacations, have our hair done, and have pretty things.  The Lord knows that I am the last one to suggest it.  What I am saying is do a heart check. Make sure it's not what you look to for happiness. I, for one, have found the attempt to fill a void among the bags of clutter.

Okay, back to the 2000...
If you are joining me in a de-clutter goal let me know.  Several have commented on Facebook about what they are working on.  It is so fun to encourage each other.  I also visited some websites that were suggested.  What fun to help each other out!

Make some rules around your 2000 items.
1. Find 2 friends to do this with you
2. Figure out what counts and what doesn't. (Ex: Consumables don't count unless of course it's something hanging out in your cupboard that should have been thrown out months or years ago!)

     The sight of these protein bars literally makes me gag. They count.

3. Make sure you aren't purging someone else' stuff without permission.

Good news is that this has forced me to find great recycling places, have some tough conversations, return books, deal with files of papers...etc.

I WILL go through the junk drawer...

God is good. He wants us to have freedom... Onward ho!

Willingly,
Amy

If someone would comment under the blog for me to see if it works, I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Blessings :)

Tip:  Get the Kindle book (less clutter, although, I have the paper copy) of Clutter Free by Kathi Lipp. It may make this journey a lot easier.

Meanwhile, at Larson's Lodge...

 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    a time to plant and a time to uproot...
    a time to search and a time to give up...
    a time to keep and a time to throw away...
    a time to tear and a time to mend...
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 ,6-7

I have enjoyed reading Kathy Lipp's book Clutter Free. This gal talks in Amy terms.  She is funny, real, tells personal stories and those of others to get her point across.  
But what I like the most is how she sprinkles scripture throughout.  
Chapter 17 begins with the above list.

Plants.  I like them. I have house plants and I also bring summer posies in to rescue from the encroaching cold weather. I keep plants for snow birds (the intelligent population that heads south for the winter). Sometimes, though, even with the furnace, water, and winter sunlight there are those that need to be uprooted and thrown out into the snow drift.

Searching. How much time do we spend in our day searching for that lost paper? Lost screwdriver? Lost tooth?  What?? 

Yep, right central incisor of boy number 2.  Poor little guy got hit somehow on this tooth way back when and it eventually abscessed and had to be extracted.  (This dental assistant struggled with that reality!) Anyway...fast forward about 12 years. I dumped out the sock drawer to purge and organize and voila; tooth!  Lord, help me. I give up.


Keep. Keep what you love; throw, donate, or recycle the rest. Period. And yes, this is a tough one.

Mend. 3 items this week were mended. I dug out my sewing supplies from 1988 and sewed 4 buttons on various items; 1 shirt, 1 jacket, and 1 pillow.  Finally!  Some socks however, just need to be torn and tossed.

A season for every activity. 
A beginning and an end. 


Begin.  The 2000 Things Challenge.  This is taken from Chapter 20 of the above mentioned book.
2000 things leave the house by the end of 2015. This makes me squirm.
Yep, we are already nearly at the end of the 2nd month but I am going for it.
49 items Wednesday.
63 items Thursday.(4 items: Thank you Lion's Club for recycling old prescription glasses.)
1 item Friday. (Good news is that I finally delivered old Christmas lights to be recycled!!)
Total 113
1887 to go.
313 days left in 2015.
6.03 items per day.
42.27 items per week.
184.1 items per month.

Okay then.  Let's rock and roll. 

End. End the insanity.  Lord forgive me. Forgive me for my gluttony. Forgiving myself and moving forward. Thank you Lord for the beginnings and the endings.

Tip:  Dig through your jewelry stash. Hang out a few and vow to wear them. Design outfits around the pieces.  Fun!

Blessed freedom,
Amy

Ecclesiastes 3:2a  a time to be born and a time to die...
This is reality. We are all born and we all die.
Beginnings and endings.
It's still hard to say good bye to our dear loved ones.
Yesterday, heaven welcomed a good friend. 
He reminded me so much of my dad. 
I hope the Lord somehow puts those 2 on a mission together.
Smart talking, fishing maybe...
How glorious it will be. 
The best beginning of all! 






 

I'm alive!

This is the note I wrote on my bulletin while in church yesterday. "I'm alive!"

This message reminded me of the time when my hubby and I attended an event 2 summers ago where a locally famous band was performing. I mean the leader of the group was singing "back in the day" when I was in high school and not allowed to go to his dances!  (And admittedly, watching the teens as a 40-something, made me agree with my parents!...that's a topic for another day).
Anyway, they were playing all kinds of fabulous dance music. When a classic 80's started rocking the fair grounds, I went in search of some female to join me on the dance floor.  I made my way through the crowd, stopped at several tables of "observers" and likely made a bit of a fool of myself begging them to join me so I didn't look like an idiot going out alone.  Well, no takers.  So I decided to hit the floor on my own.
After all, I was alive!  I could dance. I wasn't in a wheel chair, I wasn't laying on the couch, I wasn't home in front of the tv because I was too tired.  I was alive and I COULD dance!
Thankfully, I fit right in!  And I went to the place of just not caring how ridiculous I looked and enjoyed being alive, moving and free!

True story. Played out in my small home town of 1800.
They are probably still talking about it, this crazy lady...must be on drugs or something.  Ha!

On the drive home Doug said, "Do you really like to dance that much?"  He felt bad I think, that he doesn't share the same joy in dancing and that I had to go it alone.  And I told him, it was okay. Because I was okay in my own skin. My own alive skin.  PTL!

So, what I'd like to have you glean from this is another message from our service yesterday.
Get out of the box.  Get out of your reservations.  Quit worrying what others think about you. Smile! Live!

There just seems to be so much unhappiness.  It's like the world has been sucked of it's joy.
Couples out on Valentine's Day that don't even look at each other much less talk...sad, sad truth.

This joy can't be mustered on our own and thankfully doesn't have to be.
Pastor on Sunday said, "Let's go on a joy walk!"
Walk through each day and start acting like we remember what the Savior has done for us.
How do we do this?  Start saturating our brains with truth.

The joy of the Lord is my strength. Neh 8:10

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16  Now that's joy!  

I feel like I'm all over the place with this one, but hopefully you get the jist of it!  

Today, my newest de-cluttering book arrived via Fed-EX.  Stone says to me, "You could have re-organized your house 8 times by now for all of the clutter free books you've read!"  Maybe true. 
Seems like I'm still working on the WHY part of the clutter because I always want to skip that part and move to the HOW (to fix it, get rid of it). 

The book is by Kathi Lipp http://www.amazon.com/Clutter-Free-Quick-Steps-Simplifying/dp/0736959130/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dpcod_TeN4ub17CFTWX_tt

Quote from today's reading..."Stop trusting stuff to meet my needs."

This is going to be fun.  Stay tuned as we work on this together.

This is the purging I have done since my last post:

1. Cleaned under Kitchen sink. Threw 3 soap dispensers that no longer work!  I was saving because...why?  
2. Cleaned 4 other drawers in Kitchen.
3. One drawer in buffet.

I threw miscellaneous items, found some to donate and others hit the recycling bin.  

Tell me about your project.  I love to be encouraged.

Blessings, 
Amy

Tip:  Shop in your own closet!
Once you have worn a jacket, blouse or sweater when you hang it back up after washing, turn the hanger the opposite direction.  I am making it a game.  By the end of winter wear as many items as possible so I don't have to get rid of them for lack of use!  smiley face

Never say Never

I remember when the boys were both quite small and I was visiting with a friend and I said, "I would never let my kids do...such and such..." (I can't remember the details.) And she looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Never say never."

I think of how small minded I was.  I had no clue what I was in for and perhaps that is God's protection in the matter of only giving me as much as I could handle a little at a time.  Grace!  Pure Grace! 

Okay, I will give you one example:
Quote:  "I will never take my kids out of church!"
Reality:  First child couldn't even sit through the announcements before the service began.
Truth:  Never say never

This photo is from Monday of this week.  Hubby and I are on the ski lift.  (Be gracious on the dorky hat!  It's warm!) 
5 years ago I never thought I would ever entertain the thought of participating in this type of physical activity again in my life time.  Way too sick and as Doug puts it "broken". 
I lived to get a chance.
I got to go skiing with my 17 year old son on his birthday and my brand new daughter in law!
I didn't break.
I didn't spill out (except off the lift...twice...humiliating).
I was able to walk the next day.
Never say never!
I am thankful. 

Gotta love Andes Towers Hills!

Now, onto the next things of the uphill battle in health and wellness. 
Exercising & Simplifying

I will need all the help I can get in the exercising category.  Volunteers for a bit of motivation are appreciated.

But let's talk about Simplifying.

I am ready to delve into the de-cluttering 2015 bag challenge.
Last year I promoted 40 bags in 40 days.
Shall we change it up a bit?  I kind of like the satisfaction of filling up a bag and sending it out the door.
I am still researching some new ideas for de-cluttering.  I purchased a $0.99 book for my Kindle the other day and it seemed a bit too complicated for my liking.  I am also waiting on a book from Amazon recommended by a friend knee deep in cleaning out her sewing room. 
But in the meantime, I have donated about 5 bags of things and
thrown some 30 year old memorabilia from my cedar chest.

It's time to get ruthless I've decided.  Let's do this thing and make 2015 a year of Less is More!

Together, a little at a time or a lot.  Make baby steps and start with a drawer in the bathroom of old makeup or one shelf in the refrigerator.  Or set a timer for 15 minutes and go for an area!

Valentine's Day 2015
Love on yourself and lighten your load of stuff!
Finish reading this and dig in...

Never say never,
Amy

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop and look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot.~ Eleanor Roosevelt

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace... 1 Corinthians 14:33a