Purge It!

Yesterday's agenda at work was "purging". The whole day was set aside to "purge". Why? Because we are moving into a new office and who wants to move more than they need to. But the idea of purging goes much deeper. Think about it....

In my office. Well I have occupied my office for just about three months...how much would I have to purge? A lot. Every person who has occupied the office before me has left their own treasures. Brosures, business cards, emails, letters, notes, hand written instructions, old files. Each and every one of them has left a legacy that I needed to clean up. Why did they leave it? What is the  use? What does it say about them?

In my own life I have moved several times. Sometime around the end of college I counted 11 houses. Considering the amount I move I have a lot of...crap. Crap. That is what it is. Okay...well maybe not all of it. Piles of books...I love books. I collect books. I hoard books. I....well... I am addicted to books. Clothes...for a girl who never buys herself clothing...I have a lot of clothes. And pictures and cards and letters...who am I saving them for? Am I saving them for myself? Or my children? or my grand children? Well...since I don't know what God has in store for me in terms of children...why am I saving them?

What else is hidden in the box, or the drawer? What is slid under the bookshelf or under the bed? What are you collecting? What does it say about you?

For me as I ponder this reality and consider what will happen as I move, grow up, transition, change...what do I want to hold onto...then I ask the question of Why? Why am I holding onto it.
My mom has countless boxes and bins filling her basement of my stuff. My brother's stuff. My sister's stuff. What is it? Old school projects, mother's day cards, birthday cards, craft projects, pictures, odds and ends, things we cherished.... Sometimes I think mom needs to go through and just have a big bonfire!

But as easy as it is for me to say this, I have just as much difficulty getting rid of things as anybody else. It is hard to let go of the past. It is hard to leave behind something that was part of you, something that has shaped who you are.

So what can I purge today...that box under my bed and that drawer in my night stand.