Month: May 2023

A while ago I wrote about my stuff.  I have a lot of stuff!  I like my stuff.  I enjoy having my stuff.  Much of my stuff has sentimental value.  Some of my stuff is very important to me (like my pictures).  And the rest of my stuff just helps me function in my daily life. 

We all have stuff, and that stuff is unique to each one of us.  It reflects our personalities, our tastes and our lifestyles.  I know a couple in NJ who have been all over the world and have stuff from all their travels.  I like looking at their stuff and hearing the stories behind it.   Also, I have a friend in Ohio who is a very talented artist.  Her stuff exhibits that talent.  She considers her house a place to display the stuff that she collects, and her displays are museum-quality arrangements.  Seeing her stuff is an absolute pleasure, and a beautiful showcase of her talent.

Over my lifetime, I have had a plethora of stuff.  If I had kept ALL the stuff that I’ve had throughout my life, I would need a warehouse.  But fortunately, stuff  comes and goes from our lives.  One reason for that is that stuff is relative to our stage of life.   For instance, I don’t have the time or inclination nowadays to play with the toys I loved as a child.  And I couldn’t have cared less as a child about flow blue dishes.  So that’s why I don’t have a lot of toys now, and that’s why my grandmother didn’t give me her flow blue dishes until I was grown. 

Stuff also cycles through our lives.  When we lived on the farm, my stuff was indicative of country living.  I had gingham tablecloths and enameled tin canisters.  I had canning pots and a Hoosier cabinet.  Now that we live in Florida, I no longer have any of those things. 

Moving is one of the best activities for stuff management.  Not only does moving force us to give serious thought to what stuff we need and what stuff we don’t; but also new environments invite us to leave the old stuff behind and get new stuff.  And almost everybody likes to get new stuff! 

However, it is necessary to manage our stuff whether we move or stay put.  There is nothing wrong with staying put, there are lots of benefits of doing that.  But it is easy to amass too much stuff if we are in the same place for a long time.  Without the impetus of moving, stuff can over-accumulate.  Managing stuff involves organizing it, which helps us see our stuff in a better perspective.  If we have too much, we must determine what stuff stays and what goes.  We must decide what is profitable and what is not.  Only we can make those determinations for ourselves.  I dare not judge how you take care of your stuff, and you should not judge my choices – (unless we solicit that advice, which I often do). 

Another effect of having too much stuff is clutter.  Clutter happens when stuff becomes unmanageable.  The most common reason for that is volume.  The old adage, “a place for everything and everything in its place” is a good rule of thumb for stuff management.  However, even that rule is subject to personal application. 

You may be wondering why I’m talking about all this stuff.  Well, it occurred to me that stuff is more than just the objects we have.  Memories, feelings, opinions, worries, fears, and beliefs are also stuff we have in our lives. 

As our lives have unfolded, thoughts were generated from the experiences we encountered.  And those thoughts produced all the stuff listed above.  The thoughts we obtain from our experiences can affect us either positively or negatively; and we must determine what stuff we retain from those thoughts.  Will we cling to the positives or give in to the negatives?  Will the positives make us arrogant?  Will the negatives make us sour?  It’s up to each of us to make those decisions.

Just like the objects in our lives, we must manage the stuff in our minds.  Do we like the stuff that is in our minds?  Do we enjoy having it?  Does the stuff in our minds help us?  Or are we hanging on to stuff that we should have let go of a long time ago?  Are we collecting too much stuff in our minds?  We can apply the management practices that we utilize for our physical stuff on our mental stuff as well. 

Are we holding on to everything that our minds have collected over our lifetime?  Is your mind a giant warehouse?  Maybe a quaint little shop would be easier to manage.  Although we may have wonderful precious memories, there are some memories that we should not keep.  God designed us to be able to forget the bad stuff. 

Are we still playing with childhood toys as grown-ups?  Maybe we should consider our stage of life and put stage-appropriate stuff in our minds.  Are we allowing the stuff in our minds to cycle through?  Are we replacing the old stuff with exciting new stuff?  Is there clutter in our minds?  It might be time to clean house! 

If we are not enjoying our physical stuff, generally we change it.  We can do the same with the stuff in our minds.  If we have too much stuff or stuff we don’t want in our minds, dump it!  I am not making light of that task, but it is that simple (I didn’t say easy).  Just throw it out like the trash! 

We have a million excuses for keeping physical stuff we don’t need.  My most common excuse is that I might need it someday.  I never do!  What about the stuff in our minds?  If we are hanging on to thoughts that we don’t need; what excuses are we using?  “I might need this fear someday”?  “That resentment might come in handy in the future”?  I think we all would agree that those are NOT valid arguments for keeping those feelings. 

I want my physical stuff to be a blessing.  I want it to evoke pleasant feelings.  If I have something that doesn’t do that, I don’t keep it around, and I usually try to replace it with something that is pleasant.  I can’t guarantee that my stuff blesses anyone else like it does me, but I try to keep the overall atmosphere in our home positive and uplifting for everyone who visits.  What about our minds?  Do the thoughts in our minds evoke pleasant feelings for us?  If they don’t, why not replace them?  Why not keep the overall atmosphere in our minds positive and uplifting?  Then when we express our ideas, they will evoke pleasant feelings to those who hear us.

Of course, the most positive and uplifting thoughts are God’s thoughts.  God has communicated His thoughts to us through His words, which are written in the Bible.  When those words fill our thoughts, the stuff we have in our minds will be the best stuff.  It will be easily entreated.  It will be uplifting, positive and powerful.  And best of all it will be right! 

Even if you aren’t where you want to be in your surroundings or in your mind; there is always something positive to hold onto.  If you can think of nothing else, remind yourself that God loves you so much that He gave His only begotten son for you.  If your surroundings are unsatisfactory or your thoughts are a mess, remembering how much God loves you is the first step in changing that. 

If you are in a place in your life where you are blessed, be thankful.  Although our physical stuff can make us happy, it isn’t the stuff that brings us peace and joy.  That comes from the stuff we hold in our minds.  And true peace and joy come from having God’s Word in our minds. 

Note to my readers:  I will be away for the next 2 weeks, so I will post again in 3 weeks.  You’re the best!  Thanks for reading! 

Here it is, May again.  May flowers are blooming after April’s showers.  May begins summer-like weather.  May closes out the school year.  And May celebrates mothers.  All in all, May is a pretty good month! 😊

Being a mother myself, I know how hard mothers work, how thankless their job can be, and how many sleepless nights they may endure.  But I also know that from the first moment a mother holds her newborn child, something happens in her heart that changes her life.    

There is a scripture that asks, “could a woman forget her nursing child?” (Isaiah 49:15)  God uses a mother’s love, care and concern for her children as a tangible example of His love, care and concern for us.  It is almost unfathomable for most of us to imagine a mother ever forgetting her child.  However, this verse says that it is possible, but that God NEVER forgets us.  As strong as a mother’s bond may be, it can be broken.  But God’s bond with us is unbreakable because His love is infinite. 

I will readily admit that I wasn’t the greatest mother in the world.  As much as I loved my kids, I had the patience of gnat; and most of the time, I was guessing at whatever I was doing.  It is by the grace of God that my children grew up to be the wonderful adults they are today. 

But I took my job seriously and I tried to do it well because I wanted the best for my kids.  From the time they were born, I wanted them to learn about God.  I wanted them to have a strong relationship with Him, because I knew how much that meant to me, and how good it would be for them.  When they were little, I read Bible verses and sang Bible songs to them.  I prayed for them and taught them to pray.  I took them to Bible fellowships.  I tried to make the Bible as much a part of their lives as it was of mine.  And it was a good life for them.  They had a network of friends at fellowship, they learned a lot about the Bible, and they were surrounded by good Christian examples. 

Throughout their school years, Bible fellowships were still a big part of my children’s lives.  They had good friends who were part of the group, and they were exposed to a lot of Bible teachings.  A good foundation was laid.  But later in the high school and young adult years, time for fellowships and Bible teachings seemed to become secondary to all their age-related activities.  The Bible wasn’t lost to them, just kind of put on the back burner. 

At that time, this scripture became my go-to verse:

Proverbs 22:6  

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

This is a promise in God’s Word.  God promised that He would NEVER leave us nor forsake us, right? (Hebrews 13:5)  Will He ever leave or forsake our children?  NO!  If our children are not as enthused about God as we are, do we stop loving them?  No.  Do you think God stops loving them?  Absolutely not!  God is patient with us and patient with our kids.  It is the goodness of God that will lead them to Him (or back to Him).

In reminiscing about raising my children, I could think of all the times that I fell short or missed the mark.  I could compare myself to the ‘super-moms’ and feel very second-rate.  But I don’t do that.  I see the journey as my kids and I learning and growing together.  I used to say, “If only I knew then what I know now, I would have been a better mom.”  But – I would not know now what I do without going through the experiences that taught me.  So, I guess that’s not a valid argument.  The best that I can say is that I love my kids and always have.

We moms just love our kids and are thankful for them, no matter what age they are.  If you are a new mom, savor those sweet years of innocence.  They go by so fast, and it may be the only time that you have them all to yourself.    

If you are a mom of a teenager or 20-something, remember the promise (Proverbs 22:6).  Remind yourself of all the dumb stuff you did at that age.  And always remember,  “this too shall pass.”    

If your children are grown, relish your relationship with them now.  It is so fun to enjoy their company as adults.  And even more fun to watch them with their children.  You can sit back and slyly quip, “Been there. Done that.”   

If you are a grandmother (or great-grandmother), your cup runneth over!  Grandchildren are your reward for a job well done.  All the hard work you put into raising your children has paid off and now you get to have fun with your grandchildren while someone else does all the hard work! 

May celebrates mothers because mothers are an essential part of life. None of us would be here without one!  If you love your mom or your relatives who are moms, or if you know a mom that you admire, take a minute this Mother’s Day to express your thanks for their lives.  If you are a mom, enjoy your day!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!

Note to my readers:  Thanks for reading!