One of the great things about moving is you are forced to go through all your junk.  We lived in our house in Alabama for nine years and I really think we didn’t thrown a thing away in nine years.  So we threw out and threw away and sorted and donated.  And then we packed everything else up.

Yet, when we got here, I still wondered why I kept so much stuff!  We have boxes of just randomness.  Why did I think I could not live without some of these goofy things?

And let’s not even talk about my office.  I am known for a messy office.  How refreshing it was to start fresh!

In the midst of that, God showed me that we too often let our lives and our ministries become cluttered… full of junk that takes our brain space, our physical space, and/or our energy and in the end it really, truly just doesn’t matter.

There are many scary parts of starting over, but one freeing thing is that I get to begin without clutter.  There is a freedom in a blank slate in many ways, not the least is freedom from the weight of the clutter.

You don’t have to move to Florida to declutter (but you’re welcome to visit us!).  Take some time to evaluate:

-  what am I doing that I do just because I do it?  What can go and I really won’t ever even notice?

-  What am I hanging onto (habits? stuff? routines? relationships? sin?) that is not making me more effective in my walk with Christ and in my ministry?

-  What would it take to “start over” or to declutter all the junk?  Am I willing to do that?

Therefore, 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 perseverance the race marked out for us.   Hebrews 12:1