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Soot, Dust and Dog Hair

I absolutely love Spring! It's my favorite for so many reasons. It screams, fresh start, new beginnings and rebirth. Especially since living on the East Coast with the long winters. There is just a huge welcome to the bulbs poking through the soil, the new buds developing on the tree branches, birds chirping and being able to open the windows to let in the fresh air. 



It actually does motivate me to do some serious spring cleaning. The dig into the dirty corners of the house kind of cleaning. Hit the baseboards that collected soot, dust and dog hair over the winter. That usually leads me to other areas that have been neglected. The pantry which hoards all kinds of stuff that I will never eat and doesn't belong there in the first place.  Or my clothes closet and dresser drawers that have become over stuffed with gloves and scarfs. It's amazing how fast I can accumulate stuff. We have lived here nearly two years and we are busting out of the seams of every storage space we have. Time for some spring cleaning and clutter removal.

I love to purge. It's a great feeling. It's sort of like holding your breath while you drive through a tunnel and when you finally exhale, life comes back to your every being. But I have to admit, I struggle with letting go of stuff. I will look at something and think, "I might need this one day, I'll hold on to it for just a little longer" or there is a memory attached with something and if I let that thing go, I will forget the meaning behind it and why I held on to it in the first place. Here's the thing, when I keep clutter, the good things that have more value and purpose in my life get squeezed out.

The same goes for my soul. I can hang on to stuff like, resentment, bitterness or unforgiveness towards those who have hurt or wronged me. But that will only hurt me, my relationship with God and others. Those things can squeeze out the good stuff in this life that Jesus offers. When  I choose to hold on to the things that clutter my soul and am walking around holding a grudge I miss the joy in seeing those bulbs poke though the soil or can't hear the birds singing. Well, I might hear them but I don't truly enjoy them if I'm bitter about other things. 

I need to tend to my soul more often. Purge the things that are busting out at the seams and get into those dirty corners for some serious clean up. Rather than doing a once over spring cleaning, if I maintain my soul keeping it free of clutter, letting go of things that I don't need to hang on to. I even think it would be good to forget some of the memories of why I'm hanging onto them in the first place. When I do that, I leave more room for the good stuff. Stuff like Love, joy, peace, patience kindness and self control. Those are good things that Jesus offers in this life and I want to walk in those. Rather than thinking " I'll just hang on to this a little longer" I need to purge of clutter like resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. If I'm not careful, those accumulate as quickly as soot, dust and dog hair. 

-Pressing On


“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”
Ephesians 4:31 NIV


“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:13-15 NIV



“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV


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