It’s that time of year again! You’ve collected your family’s favorite recipes, some handed down from previous generations. You’ve double-checked the shopping list and are sure you have all the necessary ingredients.  

Ah! As the aroma of celery, onion, and other spices simmer on the stove, you close your eyes momentarily and take in the delectable aromas. You look forward to preparing the best meal possible for your family and friends.  

Some guests bring their favorite dishes to share, while others bring hearty appetites, ready to indulge in the meal you have worked so hard to prepare.

But sometimes recipes aren’t perfect, and neither are oven temperatures—or cooks. You’re not sure what happened, but the turkey wasn’t supposed to be dry, and the rolls weren’t supposed to turn dark brown on the bottom. It’s too late to do anything about it now.
  
Families aren’t perfect, either. Uncle Buzz had a few too many beers and yelled at Cousin for changing the channel on the football game.
 
Junior didn’t watch where he was going and spilled a can of red soda all over your new carpeting. During dinner, Aunt Rizzi bad-mouthed the meal for not being gluten-free (but she’d never informed anyone prior to Thanksgiving that she couldn’t have gluten).  

But no matter the kitchen glitches, behaviors of families or guests, ingredients in the recipes, or what dishes are served, one ingredient should stand out as the most important on this holiday: thankfulness.

Family dynamics can cause stress for some people. Times change, and relationships can change. Not one Thanksgiving is exactly like the next. Memories and longings can interfere with accepting present situations and circumstances.

However, despite the uncertainties and imperfections, we can do our best to appreciate what we have (and who we have) in our lives (including forgiveness for certain cooks and the Uncle Buzz’s, Juniors, and Aunt Rizzi’s of the world.
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Thankfulness—it’s one thing we can keep at the top of our shopping list.
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“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” – 2 Corinthians 9:11
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of the lips that acknowledge his name.” – Hebrews 13:15

​Photo courtesy of Vecteezy.com
 

"Nanc'," my husband called as I wrangled with a load of laundry.  "Have you seen my tape measure?" 
"Yes. It's in the second-bedroom closet," I answered. 
I heard my husband's voice from down the hall. "There's no way I can go in there. I can't find a place to walk into your 'walk-in' closet!" he exclaimed. 
Oops. I forgot to warn him about the closet. It was packed from floor to ceiling. I could barely wade through it myself. I retrieved the tape measure after moving a pile of stuff away from the doorframe. 
"How did I create such a mess?" I asked my husband. "We've only lived in this house for five years."   
My husband shook his head. He didn't know what to say. 
The closet's sorry state was my own doing. I'd made the second bedroom my refuge for writing, music, crafts, and other hobbies. But, gradually, the closet became overloaded with everything I needed to support those hobbies. However, a walk-in closet you can't walk into was not acceptable. 

Had I become a miser of all things past and present? I scolded myself. Evidently so.

Something had to change, but  there was a problem:  I was attached to all my "stuff." I'd owned a lot of it for a long time. It felt like the items were part of me. (Have you ever felt that way about things?)

The other problem was that all of this "stuff" was getting in the way—and not just because I couldn't walk into the closet. The overload of owning too many things had become a burden to my well-being. I'd tried shutting the closet door so I didn't have to look at the mess, but that only hid the problem. And the problem wasn't the stuff itself—it was my unwillingness to let go of it.

Why do we hold on to things? Does it give us a (false) sense of security? Possibly. Or, do we fear losing part of ourselves when we give things up? Maybe. Or, perhaps it provides a feeling of fulfillment to own or acquire things.      

I knew I had to do something about the mess I'd created. It had gotten in the way of my living space, and it was taking up needed space in my conflicted heart. I'd been collecting too many "earthly treasures" as mentioned in the book of Matthew.

In Matthew 6: 19-21, the Bible warns about excess: 

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourself treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  
The last line of the verse gets to me. It's definitely a reminder to be on guard to seek the right kind of treasure.  

Over the next three weeks, I purged the contents of my closet. It took a lot of time and it was hard to do, but I had to be honest with myself. To make a decision about each item, I asked myself if it was something I was really going to use, or was I hanging onto it because I was emotionally attached to it?  I found special things I could hand down to my family. That was fine. But other than that, nearly half of the "stuff" had sat on those shelves unused—or rarely used. 

Letting go of things isn't easy, but one thing that helped was thinking about others who could use the things I'd been blessed to own. And besides, the items were just "things," and things can be replaced.

When I finished clearing out the closet, I was elated to have everything labeled and in its place, and we could walk into the closet again! 

Using my hobby/writing/craft/music room is an inviting space now, where I enjoy working. The clean-up experience was arduous, but resulted in a great feeling of personal renewal. 
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What experiences have you had with the "stuff" in your life? Feel free to leave a comment. Thank you for stopping by. Wishing God's Blessings for your week!

Photo courtesy of Vecteezy.com