Fall Cleaning

The windows need to be washed. The curtains need to come down. Closets gone through and unused things weeded out. Fall cleaning time. I have a long standing policy, if it isn't an heirloom and it wasn't used for an entire year, out it goes. We have too much stuff, too many things to move around or so much stuffed in a closet that its not fun to find things or put things away. Of course we have only three closets in the entire house and not a one of them is more than the size of a bathtub ! Even though the bargains at Goodwill are great, I really don't need any thing else in my house. Wonder if I will listen to myself on this subject ?
I have too many dishes, too many glasses that are for drinks we don't drink. To many table clothes, too much fabric, too many things that are just things.
There is within me this day a real and deep longing for less, not more to define me. A desire for greater simplicity. Yesterday I dressed up nice to take Melissa to the airport and have brunch with Emery and it didn't take long for me to see something in myself that is not uncommon but really the norm these days. A mentality that has so many in debt. I see, I want, I buy. You dress up, look chic, have your hair perfect and then you start wanting to eat at better places, have a better car to match how you dress, you start thinking about all of your surroundings and your appearance. Maybe you notice a woman with a huge rock on her finger and makes you think about how one would look nice with your outfit. You start to redecorate your house mentally, pushing things up a notch. Maybe you want to shop at gourmet markets when the market down the road is the same store only not the gourmet variety, not filled with all beautiful people and has a parking lot filled with luxury cars and it cost more, making you feel like you must have more money then since you shop there. You might even seek out a more affluent church to attend.
For me personally, this kind of thinking, this madness, lasts only a few hours. I come home, change my clothes for chores and take that sigh kind of deep breath and get myself on track again. Remembering what really matters in life, remembering what counts in the end. Thinking about what God cares about. I just think about what it is that has made my girls so thoughtful of others, so compassionate and so unimpressed with material goods. You would be hard pressed to get them to talk about themselves in any conversation. The girls were raised from birth, with a security that transcends the need to impress, show-off or brag. How I wish all my children had had the same beginning, that same level of security and love. It's not stuff that makes life good and its not "fancy" that gives you a good solid family life or good sleep at night. This train of thought gets me back on track and yes, I need to not be a sloppy dresser, for myself and for my family, but I sure don't need to hop on some run away train that takes me down the road of wanting more of this or finer that.
Today I will sew, and I will clean a bit and I will chat with my girls. I will muse throughout the day that it has been this simple living that has given me what I want the most out of life. I know that God cares about two things more than anything else. That we love Him and that we love one another. I will pray a prayer of thanksgiving for love and for years that Emery and I worked side by side building a strong foundation for our children, which was accomplished only by the grace of God and His wisdom and instruction. We were only the instruments. We wanted our children to know that life is not about impressing people or bragging about stuff. All good things are from God after all and how can we try to take the credit for it ?