In May we moved from our house of 4 years.
Houses, the longer you live in them, the more stuff you accumulate.
Knowing we were called to the mission field we wanted to purge as much of our stuff as we could while parting from the seminary. Often when one placed their stuff in front of their house at seminary it meant it was free for the taking to anyone else in the community. We knew this was the best way to part with most of our stuff as it would be put to good use.
We also knew we only had 6 months in our new location and that we would be on the road, a lot. So taking only what was needed would keep us from having to purge again.
Packed to the Brim
When we’d go out for a trip no matter how light we tried to pack, we were packed to the brim.
2 Large Suitcases holding 6 people’s clothing, Individual Backpacks full of School Supplies and a few toys. Papa’s Work Clothing bag, and a day bag, that I’d use to pack a day’s worth of Clothes and PJs if we were making a quick stop (this way we didn’t have to lug 2 large suitcases around.) It wasn’t a lot of stuff but add 6 bodies and some snacks and the van was packed. Especially the days the kids would pull out the school gear to work while on the road.
Give and Take
It’s a give and take. You can’t keep it all, but even when you have the bare minimum it can still feel as though you have too much. In our house (of 6 months), we only had one pot and one pan. We kept our mattresses on the floor because there was no need to move our bedframes, and we could pass them to someone in need. We did our best to keep our resources to a minimum. The house we stayed in before transitioning to the mission field came with a dining room table, a couch, and we borrowed some chairs, which was helpful. Sure, there were times we could have used something else to make life “easier”, but we managed.
On the road, it felt as though we had too much, and often we’d try to scale down, but being a large family, we just couldn’t. We knew each time we’d go out we’d be packed to the brim every time. Because we needed what we had to survive.
Back in the day
And he said to them, “when I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “nothing.” – Luke 22:35
He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in their belts – but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. Mark 6:8-9
You know I always wondered about the two-tunic thing. Because how do you wash a change of clothes? Wash yourself as you wash your clothes? It’s one of the random questions I’d like to ask one day, however I’m sure that minuscule question will get lost in the Glory of God and become mute.
You can’t take it with you.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth no rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
It’s easy to fill ones house with treasures, keepsakes, mementos. Truth, I’m guilty of keeping a few of my Grandma’s decorations. However, these days it’s about the only thing I hang on to.
Do you lack anything?
I think there is something to Jesus’s question. Did you lack anything?
Jesus is the provider of our daily bread, which is everything we need.
We shouldn’t spend time worrying about what we do and don’t have, or how much stuff we will need to “survive”. Instead, we should be more like the disciples back in the day.
The more we have the more we want, the more our hearts cling to stuff and less to the Lord. For example, there is a truism about filling more space with more things.
There is peace in knowing the Lord is the provider of our daily needs.
Everything else, is just stuff that you can’t take with you when you go.
Relationships with those that know Jesus, those you’ll keep.
It makes sense to me to nurture and grow those.
Stuff – distracts us from building those, the relationships that have eternal value.
Stuff can also distract us from sharing Jesus with others.
The next time you go to reach for that “I need this item” ask yourself, do I lack anything?
Dare I even say we then ask ourselves, what’s a way in which I can help my neighbor?