Friday, July 14, 2006

Taking Inventory

I am an organizer. It's one of the inevitable things in life that most people hate -- organizing closets, drawers, pantries, basements -- but it makes me feel at peace, and for that reason, I love it. I spent over 11 hours this week cleaning up (and out!) our basement. What had started as a conglomeration of tools, paint supplies, athletic equipment, Christmas decorations and random building materials has transformed into a less hectic, calmer portion of our house. I had the house to myself as a cleaned and organized and I thought to myself that I could use a little "cleaning up" in another room too...

I don't mean another room in my house, but rather the room in my heart. It started to surprise me that I spent so much time cleaning up the basement, the room of my house that most people never even see. The heart is like that too... no one can see what's really hidden inside except God, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't take inventory and get rid of the "junk" that's inside. There are many immature and bad attitudes that I feel like I should have grown out of by now but that are still sticking around. There are some grudges and insecurities too - all of which are taking up too much space in my heart. Just like a basement can only hold so much stuff, your heart picks and chooses what is the most important to keep around too. I want to have more room for excitement and energy, for love and compassion, for thankfulness and generosity. To make room for these things, I have to be willing to "throw out" the selfishness and pride, the laziness and bitterness, the jealousy and irritability. It's not an easy trade-off -- I am a fallen person -- but with God's help, I hope to reorganize the room in my heart with as much devotion and gusto as I did the room in my basement.

1 comments:

Kelly said...

yay bethie! excellent post! i would love to share your gusto for household organization...you don't even want to see our basement :)but i especially was encouraged by your comments on tossing out the "junk" in our hearts...Ben's reading a great book on repentence right now that really ties in with these thoughts. love you!