Decluttering!

On vacation, we had eight outfits each, a few pairs of shoes, the basic bathroom supplies and that's about it. You know what? For 16 days we survived without wii, gameboy, leapster and all the other toys and gadgets at home. For 16 days, we enjoyed life without piles of mail, newspapers, and all the other stuff at home.

Only home a week and I'm going bonkers because of stuff! Life is too short to fight and fret about stuff. I've got better things to do than spend hours organizing and rearranging stuff. Can you relate? Do papers tumble out of your filing cabinet? Across the desk? Or maybe, like mine, somehow migrate daily to the kitchen counter? Ahem! That's for food!

It's not what God intended. The book of Hebrews says, "Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. 12:1-2 NIV)

My friends, there is a better way. Interested? Then read on.

Declutter your inbox! After two weeks away, my inbox really piled up. I had close to 1,000 emails to read. I'll be honest, I read less than 100 and deleted the rest. Just about all of it was junk. You know when you shop online, the retailers start sending sales emails. At first they seem like an awesome thing to have, but really they steal time and fill our heads with wants. After all, it's hard for us girls to pass up a good sale. Retailers know that! There were some newsletters there, too, mostly ministry related. But, I had "too much of a good thing." A recent study reports that more than 50 emails a day triggers stress. I was getting more than 100! Decluttering is easy. Click on that unsubscribe button! If you really miss something, you can always reconnect. My guess is you'll be happy it's gone.

Declutter the papers! Last Friday, I purged our filing cabinets. Big time! File by file, I cleaned out everything. There were bill statements from 10 years ago clogging those drawers. My husband's student loan papers were still there -- and his loans were paid off in 2004! The list goes on, but I don't want to clog up this post. If you don't know where to begin, here's what I did and it worked!

• Pull out the first file and begin! Yep, it's that simple. If you don't need it or can find the information online, throw it away. (I completely filled a kitchen garbage can)
• Sort everything you need to keep based on the following categories (you might find a better system, but I found that this worked well):
• One file for each member of the family. My kids' school and activity information and awards go in their files. My husband's file is mostly work related. My file mostly includes thank you cards from various things and my favorite paper from law school.
• One file for this year's bill statements.
• One file for credit card receipts.
• One file for vehicle maintenance records.
• One file for this year's tax information (pay stubs, mortgage statements, business expenses, charitable contributions, etc).
• One file for insurance information.
• One file for investment information.
• One file for checking and savings information.
• REMEMBER! Everything else is unnecessary. I did put each of the past seven years' income tax information in business envelopes to store in the attic -- if you don't have someplace to store that information, I guess it should go in files too. 

• Declutter the kids. I am not joking! Since coming home, my kids have bickered over stuff more times than I can count. Sixteen days without fighting over toys was bliss. Their behavior now drives me crazy! (Maybe this should be its own post, but it's part of my decluttering plan, so I'm including it here)

• Memorize this verse and apply vigorously to your kids' lives, "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away..." (Matt. 18:8)... NO! Don't cut off their hands or feet, but do "cut off" whatever it is they fight over.
• Make them repeat the verse.
• Explain that "the item" is leading them to fight and not live in peace. Explain that "the item" is not worth fighting over. Then throw it away! Forever.
• Apply the verse to WHATEVER they are fighting over (yes, even the wii). Our kids' hearts are far more important than any things we own!

This morning, two of my children fought over a brochure (ridiculous! And they've been fighting over legos, silly bands, pool toys and more this whole week). I finally applied this verse today, explaining to my kids that their relationship is more valuable than anything we have. Then I shredded the brochure. After throwing it away, I took a moment to reiterate that fighting over things is not God's plan for their lives. I told them I will throw away anything they fight over, even the wii and the TV if that's what it takes to learn to respect one another.

Trust me, I pray they figure it out before I have to throw out my TV, but my kids are more precious than anything. If that's what it takes, I will do it. My husband agrees, in case you wonder.

We still have lots of decluttering to do... but I know that simplifying paperwork, the kitchen and the kids' lives is a great first step.

How about you? What weighs you down? Are you willing to "cut it off" so that you can run the race God has planned for you?

May God bless you as you honor him with all of your life!

Lots of love,
Karen