Freedom from Burdens

This week, Joel has steadily recovered from his surgery with no setbacks:  no fever, no coughing, no nausea or vomiting.  His return to Sister Kenny and a full schedule of therapy happened without a hitch.  We expect that removing the abscess of infection behind his esophagus freed him from a huge burden and will allow healing to proceed at a faster pace.

We’ve used the two extra weeks afforded by Joel’s delay in returning home for a good purpose:  decluttering.  We’ve brought three loads of clothes and miscellaneous household items to the local thrift shop, and I have 27 empty buckets, bins and baskets that used to store stacks of stuff.   We expect that removing this amount of clutter from our home freed us from a huge burden and will allow caring for Joel to proceed in a more organized and pleasant fashion.

How much infection or clutter has gathered in our spirits?  Pete and I just spent an hour discussing the possibility of cutting back on our, and our kids’, media consumption.  We all watch a lot of movies, the boys play video games, I read Internet articles and we all surf the Web and do social media quite a bit.  How much of a burden might this place on our spiritual healing and growth?  If we can reduce or eliminate these influences, might we be free to follow Christ more closely?  Stay tuned….

Seven Days' Worth of Clothing

Online a month or two ago, I read an article touting the benefits of paring down one's clothes to seven days' worth.  The author contended that choosing her outfit, gazing at her closet, and laundry had grown easier since implementing this step.  I procrastinated for weeks, directing the dinner theater and preparing for Holy Week.  Then I procrastinated for days, just procrastinating.  Finally on Friday, I found another article online describing clothing needs for seven days - four short-sleeved shirts, three long-sleeved, three jeans, etc.  I adapted the list to my situation, wrote a short memo of how many different articles I needed and set to work.  After hauling all the clothes out on the floor, I started putting back only those items that fit well, looked good, gave comfort and didn't go over the limit.  I filled a bucket with sentimental, seasonal or "I might need these later" pieces, and piled up at least ten things to give away.  Now - voila!  The writer was right!  Gawking at my closet gives me the giggles; this morning I had no trouble deciding on what to wear to church, and hanging up clothes couldn't be easier with all the extra room.  I wish I had a "before" picture to post, but here's the "after" and this is a course I highly recommend.  Suffice it to say that if spring ever gets here, I will do the same with my spring and summer clothing!