It bugged me for months yet I just couldn’t seem to get past it, tackle it, become motivated. I was stuck! I knew I needed to face it, but I felt powerless. In the midst of remodeling our master bathroom, my husband kept the tools he needed close at hand in our bedroom, it makes sense, I know.

But chaos and clutter in the bedroom became the norm… it wasn’t just the tools. It was the level, T-square, step ladder, sponges, paint cans, copper pipes along with an original pile of junk I hadn’t dealt with from months earlier. What originally needed to be addressed, because of neglect, was now complicated by the bathroom’s remodel spilling over! Dealing with all this JUNK became so daunting that I didn’t want to do the task at all, or ever! I was busy with other things and embarrassed and paralyzed. I was baffled by my own indifference yet I was disgusted at the same time.

The one small pile grew and took on a life of its own. In the end, it had taken up the floor space of about 1/3 of our bedroom’s square footage. There was no way for me to open the sliding glass door to get onto the deck. Because it’s winter and I don’t use it very much in the cold weather, it seemed to be no big deal which perpetuated the mess being tolerated.

Every morning, I woke up with a voice,”You know you should tackle this today. What’s your problem? Just do it!” I lived with the knowledge that I should get after it yet every evening I went to bed with the sense of disappointment that I still didn’t get it done. But enough is enough and the time finally came. Dun, dun dun, dun DUNNNNN!

I have a friend who is an accountability partner for what we’ve fondly referred to as our “Purging Days.” You may be wondering. What’s that? It’s when I go to her house to tackle an area she has become overwhelmed or discouraged by and we purge, pitch and organize. Then she comes over to my house and returns the favor.

Recently, we worked in her basement. She planned to go through things and purge. Her goal: properly put away the Christmas decorations. She was a motivated woman! Oh my goodness! My quadriceps were quivering and completely taxed from going up and down the steps, but we cleared out so much stuff it was worth it! It was unbelievable the amount of clearing out and purging that was accomplished. Yay! Yippee! Yahoo!

We loaded up her SUV, filled to capacity, and I watched her drive away as she took the stuff to Goodwill. She also had multiple bags of trash and some things she recycled. As the day progressed, she’d say through her laughter, “Oh, my gosh! Rachel look how much we’ve cleared out! How many empty bins do I have now? This is so exciting! Let’s work over here now.”

She had moved from disturbed, to encouraged and was finally elated and grateful. In the end, we both had a huge sense of accomplishment. It was such an exciting day. We both put the date to tackle things in my house on our calendars.

Sometimes you just need to sew a seed and that is how I viewed the day spent in her basement. I knew my house was next. Between clearing out her basement and the “purging day” at my own, my husband had nearly completed our bathroom’s remodel. We took away all the tools that were no longer needed. I appreciated his help because it seemed to jump start my energy-level and began to give me hope for the room.

I knew my turn would come…and it did. The following Monday, my friend came over and we tackled the dreaded area. We scratched our heads for a few minutes, then said, “How ’bout we just start over there by the bookshelves?” We cleared off every shelf, dusted the books and I decided whether to keep, donate, or sell each book. You have to start somewhere. Next, we sorted through papers AAAANNNNDDD the ball was rolling!

I was invigorated. It was like somebody shot the gun off for a race. I was able to run, stay in my lane, while being cheered on to the finish line. I don’t know about you, but for me, sometimes the gun just has to go off! And hearing the BANG is when I start running.

Let me ask you a few questions that might get you unstuck and help you move forward:

• What is it that you need to do to hear the gun go off? (Set a date, time, call someone?)

• Is there something that accountability or a partner could help you do? (Reach out and ask to be held accountable or ask for help…period.)

• Do you work best with a partner or alone?

Maybe you don’t need to be near ANYONE, quite the opposite, you may be the type of person who just needs to have time ALONE to accomplish tasks. If that’s the case, I suggest you write down a day and carve out the time to do it solo. (Write it down is key!)

Either way, I believe it’s important to “sew a seed then proceed.” Here’s what I mean by that, when I went over to my friend’s house to work in the basement that was a seed sown. My master bedroom got tackled for me later.

Here is another example of sewing a seed. Let’s say you want to have a date night with your husband, but you don’t have someone to watch your children. How ’bout you first, sew a seed. Perhaps you could offer to watch someone’s children so they could have a date night. Then later, they watch your kids so that you can get away.

Being generous with your time, resources and availability will boomerang back to you. You sow the seed. It’s not the only reason you do it, but I’m telling you, it is a blessing when it comes back to you. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

There is a residual effect too. You know what? After working in my bedroom, I now feel like I can tackle other areas in my house. There is a spill over affect. I’m more able to take on messes in my emotional life and headspace that need to be purged and cleared out. I’ve noticed when we do something in the tangible physical realm it affects us in the emotional and spiritual realm too. I feel lighter, less cluttered, and invigorated to go after clutter in other areas in my life.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily in tangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31, 32

So whether you need to purge and get rid of things that are physical items, like my dreaded pile of junk, or whether it’s more emotional and spiritual trash that needs to go… I would encourage you to find a partner or even carve out the time alone to “Get ‘er done!” Let me tell you…If I can do it, you can do it! I’m rooting for you and freedom is on the other side.

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.RachelInouye.org

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