Closer to the finish line

It is hard to believe that we are closing in on the last half of May. Where does time go? Pretty soon, school will be out. I'll have my boys all summer. This will be Mark's last summer before he starts middle school. I wonder if this will be the last summer of his boyhood--before he becomes a know it all teenager. Right now he LOVES summer--he doesn't rush it. But I remember being a teenager and simply wanting to grow up. A lot of that though was because of my home life. I felt very oppressed. I pray that I don't do that to my boys and that summer will forever be their favorite season. As a teenager my favorite season was fall-- I never had to be home. I was out every Friday night with the band at football games. And then of course I always prayed for a play off game. In college, I prayed for bowl games. Anything that kept me out of the house longer. Now as an adult though, my favorite season is summer. I love spending that time with my boys. Lazy Crazy Days. Where nothing but fun gets accomplished. Soon enough they will grow up and have bills to pay and responsibilities to care for, but now--now is the time for pure childlike fun.

I hope this summer will be memorable for other reasons as well. We close on our house June 4th. So in about four weeks we will leave the only home Matthew and Noah have ever known. It is exciting and overwhelming all together. Nine years of clutter is what I have to go through. Today I cleaned out Noah's stuffed animals, and he noticed that the remaining animals looked much neater in his net. He began crying asking me why I took his stuffed animals away. I told him very honestly that if he could name ONE animal that I had taken I would gladly give it back. He couldn't do it. But boy did he cry for about 10 minutes. Wailing "WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Un-be-lieve-able!! His net looks neater, and he still has an adequate supply of all toys stuffed.

But as I sit here and type I wonder if God has been disappointed with all the excess with which we drown ourselves in. I mean really...does Noah need every version of Elmo ever created? And Pooh's...he had so many hand me down Pooh's that we could have opened our own Disney store. I know that my God does not withhold one good thing from them that walk uprightly. But just like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. God blesses me with good things, but I choose to take it overboard. Am I teaching my children to live constructively? While I want them to enjoy their childhoods, I do not want them to take lightly the fact that their daddy works VERY hard for all they have. I don't want them to become apathetic children constantly seeking instant gratification. There have been times in my life when no material object could make the situation better. Either because it was already perfect the way it was or because it was a stormy time that could not be fixed with material things. That is what I most want my children to grasp right now as I purge through our belongings. It is not the stuff that you own that makes you who you are. How easy it is to forget that.

Father, Forgive me for letting my life get cluttered up by the things of this world..literally and figuratively. As I clean out the rooms and the closets of my home, allow me to also clean out the closets of my soul. Allow me to take pride in the cleanliness, the order that you created and desire me to live in. After all in the end, I will not be carrying a suitcase with me on the road to heaven. And honestly--what a refreshing thought to know I don't have to pack for my final move!

And for you, my friend, I wish you MANY clutter free days!