Last night I was up until one in the morning decluttering and cleaning my kitchen... And I only made it halfway. Once you begin opening cabinets and reorganizing, eliminating, and wiping it all down, the job grows bigger and bigger.
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| CHAOS! |
Oh, but how awesome it is to have even one section of my counter totally cleared off except for the coffee maker. It's a big section too!
I have been looking and praying about how to get my kitchen clean and orderly, even a tad bit minimalistic. Well, I may not hit minimalism, but progress is better than living with the stress and clutter and chaos that has accumulated.
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| Some organized dishes in the cabinet I inherited from my Grandmother. |
I always kept most of my appliances on my counter. However, lack of counter space has frustrated me since we moved here. Yesterday I ran into a couple of articles on Pinterest (research mode) about clearing nearly EVERYTHING off the counter. At first I thought, she (the author of the article) is crazy! Where would I put it all?
Then I realized that if I minimized enough stuff, I would have plenty of room. I had already been planning to utilize my Grandma's china cabinet as more than just a place to show off knick-knacks.
Already, despite the mess getting bigger before better, I am enjoying the clean, uncluttered, organized parts I have finished. To me, that is surprising. I've never been very neat or organized. I've always had a tough time keeping things tidy. The fact that I like little breakable pretties, and have given too much sentimental value to "things", hasn't helped me in my organized-challenged life.
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| Plastic! |
From deep within me I have this desire that has been building over the last few months to shake up my world. I don't mean this in the activist, change the world, kind of way. I mean this in the deep, quiet, just knowing kind of way. For too long I held that "get more" mentality. Maybe it's that American Dream thinking I held on to for way too long, where I thought I would have it all. I have always lived the way so many live, for the next thing to buy.
I realized not long ago that I will never be able to "have enough" if I keep thinking this way. I am the "poor" sister in my family. I love my sisters immensely and am extremely blessed that they are so amazing. They both have a bit of a different reality than I do at times. I can't take the trips or have all the "nice" things. I have never had a new car... Or new furniture. I realized that I've been collecting "stuff" to give me value. How many times do we hear, "I like my stuff." Even if we don't hear it blatantly, every time a commercial plugs a new, great thing, the consumer is left with the feeling that the new, great thing is just what they need. My weakness hasn't usually been the big ticket items, such as the cars or the fancy furniture. I usually seem to gain a lot of books and knick-knacks and homeschool curriculum and kids' toys. Spending smaller amounts than those that make more, accumulating my version of "stuff."
Until it began to overwhelm my whole life.
It's freeing to change the way you think. Like the flipping of a switch, I realized that I didn't need to be looking forward to the next purchase. I'm by no means a shopping addict, but I have always felt that I didn't have as much as other people. I didn't have the nice things or the big house. Insecurity, yes, has been a root issue. I was always a kid that was in the working class family. Money was rarely there. When it was, I bought stuff.
I'm sick of stuff. The Bible certainly doesn't back up collecting a ton of stuff. I would read verses such as this:
“Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.”
Matthew 6:20 NLT
I would think that my treasures weren't all that important to me, but still collected them relentlessly.
A few years ago I read Radical, by David Platt, and I got a bit of a wake-up call. It wasn't enough to change me though. Recently, upon discovering Amish heritage, I realized how their intentionally slow lifestyle and limited things is purposely set up to keep them connected to God, family, and community. While I won't be joining an Amish church, I am sure that American's obsession with things is an idol.
I can't do the clutter and chaos any longer! So, as I continue on this journey of simplifying my life, if only to spend more time intentionally with The Lord and my family, I plan to keep blogging about the ups and downs.
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