Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! I sure did! Happy Kwanzaa to those who celebrate this week! I looked up the holiday and the 7 principles of Kwanzaa, we could all learn a lot from this celebration and our African-American brothers and sisters. I look forward to 2022 and all the new things Jesus has in store for me! I want to start today by wishing all of you, no matter who are, what you believe, or where you are in life, a wonderful New Year and blessings in all of your endeavors in 2022!
Now to the clutter part. For those of you just starting to read my blogs in the new year, I waste no time getting to the point and I write conversational style blogs. I hope you will be challenged, inspired, and enjoy reading them in the coming year.
I knew prior to Christmas I had to de-clutter before the new year started. I could not get this offmy mind at all. When I can't get something off of my mind, that is Jesus' way of telling me it's time to deal with something or someone in my life. I knew I had disorder and clutter in several places in my house. Although hidden, it was still clutter. Hidden clutter can be worse actually because it's not seen, so you believe you need not deal with it. Hidden clutter of the soul is the same. I was going to deal with the hidden clutter in my house and Jesus was going to deal with the hidden clutter in my soul.
As of Wednesday, 12/29, I have cleaned out 2 closets, 10 cabinets, a small business desk, a
pantry, and a refrigerator/freezer. This yielded 18 bags of donations to GoodWill, 1 single
donation to a friend, and 6 bags of trash. Never again ladies and gentlemen, never again – not
hidden or otherwise! What a waste of food, space, and the energy of “holding on to things” that didn't matter. The same applied to my soul. I was wasting soul space and energy holding onto fear which got me “stuck” so to speak carrying around physical junk and unneeded things. Isn't it interesting how soul issues manifest in the physical world? For me, this de-cluttering was all about fear, and hidden fear at that. I didn't know that when I started this process but Jesus is faithful to show us the why. Allow me to explain.
When I was married to my late husband, Jeff, he would make me get rid of things I liked or in
some instances actually needed. He would tell me I did not need those things and he would be
unpleasant until I agreed to depart with said items. I recognize this now as a hallmark sign up emotional abuse but I did not then. I didn't know what to think then. He, however, got to keep whatever he wanted and believe me, we lived in a cluttered home he would not allow me to clean out. I gave up trying. When I did leave him in early 2014, I decided no one would ever
make me get rid of what I liked or wanted again, not ever. Little did I know fear had subtly rooted
itself in my heart, the fear of someone taking or making me get rid of things.
Fast forward to November 2020. Jesus shows me it's time to clean out some things related to
my late husband from under my bed. You are probably asking yourself why I would keep
anything from a marriage like that but you do because despite that spouse's treachery, you did love them. You actually valued the covenant between the two of you, even if the other spouse did not. Please notice these things were under the bed, again hidden. I cleaned everything out and threw away alot both from under the bed and in my closet (hidden). I also threw away ornaments that were his before we married and some from after we were married (hidden). I felt a peace and a freedom l had not felt in a long time! However, this was only the beginning of the soul de-clutter Jesus had in store for me in the coming year.
Fast forward again to Spring 2021. I was dusting a shelf I have in the living room and Jesus showed me that I needed to put away two things related to our marriage still sitting on that shelf. They did not need to be displayed publicly anymore; that is not who I was anymore and my late husband was no longer here on earth – he was a part of the past. I would have never been willing or able to do this had Jesus not started small with the things under the bed and the few things in the closet (again the hidden things). I put the public things away. Once again, I felt a peace and a freedom!
And here we are on 12/30/2021 as I pen this blog. From Monday to Wednesday this week, I cleaned out 10 years of clutter, some of it going back to when we were dating or married. I didn't needt hose things and they don't represent who I am now. I can't tell you how freeing this has been! The peace is overwhelmingly good! I am truly ready for a new year of new things! I have been set free from the fear of losing what I love or having it taken from me! I had to choose to let go and I did! I chose to trust that Jesus knew what He was doing in asking me to do this; instead of trusting in myself who got ME into this cluttered predicament in the first place. A soul weight has been lifted off of me! I am no longer tied to a past that is tied to fear!
What are you holding onto because of fear? Do you need soul de-cluttering and physical de-
cluttering? I don't ask you these questions to make you feel bad about yourself or your current situation. I ask you these questions so that you can begin your path to freedom! The path to soul freedom is paved with hard questions, hard answers, and hard but rewarding choices. You get to choose whether you are a victim of your past and your fears. You don't have to stay there. I chose not to be a victim to either fear nor the past, and you can too. If I can do this, you can do this. Jesus loves us and longs for us to be free from our soul clutter. It's never too late to ask Him to help you. It's never too late to know Him as I do. A new year is upon us; do something different that you've never done before now, walk into your soul freedom! The choice belongs to you.
Looking forward without fear,
Elizabeth