If anyone is wondering where my blog about our recent trip to Europe and the UK is, it’s coming! I’m working on it . . .
In the meantime, it’s been great to be around the house for awhile. My house needs for me to be around a while. After our trips to Asia and Europe, I had more stacks of this and that around the house than Heinz has pickles. So the last couple weeks I’ve been going through some of those stacks, weeding things out, and putting them in their proper places. I still have more to do, but I’m making progress, and making progress feels good. The hardest part for me is getting started.
Last week, I went through my bedroom closet and dresser drawers – to set aside things I don’t need. My usual rule of thumb is that I give away – or get rid of – anything I haven’t worn in a year or so. Then, I bag up the items I want to give away and take them to Twice is Nice – a neat place my church runs. There, they go up for sale (for a very reasonable price), and the proceeds are donated to a local Christian community center. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
So what was in this pile of things that I cleared out of my closet?
– Long underwear (Don’t need it . . . I’m always warm . . . I carry my heater everywhere I go)
– A belt (I’m a matron now – I like to wear my tops out)
– Warm slippers from New Zealand (Being that I’m always warm, I like to wear flip-flops in the house – even in the middle of winter)
– Christmas socks (The last two years I thought I might wear them, but alas, I haven’t)
– Earrings I wore once. Those earrings I bought in the Singapore airport . . . the ones with the little orchids inside . . . I guess they weren’t as great an idea as I originally thought. [Note to self: When considering a purchase, make sure it rates around a 10 – or I might not use or wear it much later.]
– Skirts, pants, blouses and sweaters that I haven’t worn in a year or two
While I was working on this project of going through my closet, I read the following New Testament verses from my One-Year Bible (Oct. 30):
“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.” Hebrews 1:10-12
As if that wasn’t curious enough, I turned to the Old Testament reading for that same day and read: “Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment and discard them. But you are always the same; you will live forever.” Psalm 102:25-26
At first, I thought – wait a minute – didn’t I just read those verses? Yes, I had. I double-checked. The verses in Hebrews are a quote from the Psalms, and those same verses appear twice in the One-Year Reading for Oct. 30 – once in the OT and once in the NT. Very cool . . .
One of the many things I like about reading from the Bible each morning is that there are so many references to things in real life that are easy to understand. (As Mark Twain said, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts that I do understand.”)
Clothes wear out. Yep, we know that. Some of us wish we had purchased two of those favorite pants that fit us so well . . . God, however, never wears out. He is always the same. That is good for us to remember all the time. It is especially good for us to remember when things around us are changing – which it seems is most of the time, here on earth.
Blessings,
Ellen
CrissCross Connections 