We recently had a garage sale at our house.
We’ve done them before and so we knew what we were getting into but it once again proved to be a bigger task than initially expected.
First, of course, the garage had to be cleaned. Leaves needed to be swept out and cobwebs cleared from the corners. Shelves were emptied and various tools and boxes stacked outside on the grass.
Then comes the emptying of storage boxes and the often painful decision to sell something that once was determined to be of sufficient value to be purchased, displayed and then stored for possible future use.
It was interesting, however, to notice that as we started making decisions to part with things, we actually started looking in other places to see what else we might be able to get rid of.
Then came the hardest part – pricing the items. Time and again we had to remind ourselves that we wanted to get rid of things and that what was of immeasurable value to us was probably worth a dollar to someone else.
Finally, the opening day of the sale arrived. To my amazement, a car pulled up nearly 45 minutes before the advertised opening of our garage sale. The woman waited patiently for our doors to open and then quickly began to survey our treasures.
There’s something satisfying when items in your garage sale are heading down the driveway, tucked under the arm of a happy buyer. For me, it’s less about the dollar or two that was gained and more about the space that has been reclaimed in the basement.
By the end of the second day our tables were mostly empty and our energy gauge was in about the same position. Finally, we closed the doors and sat down to enjoy a well-earned cup of coffee.
We’ve done garage sales before and we have an agreement: Whatever goes into the garage sale does not go back into the house. No sooner had we ended our sale than I began to load the car with our remaining items to bring them to the Goodwill Store.
With our sale now just a memory, I’ve thought about the need to declutter, not our garage or basement but our lives.
Might there be some clutter in your life, stuff collected over the years that needs to be gotten rid of?
Are there activities that, while not bad in themselves, keep you from doing better, more important and valuable things?
Are there hurts that have found a home on a shelf in our heart that desperately need to be gotten rid of?
Like getting rid of seldom used vases and picture frames, cleaning out our lives is a good exercise for us.
Remember, “where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)
Cheerfully,
Pastor Bob
