Clearing Out the Clutter

Years ago, when Jean and I moved into our current home, the truck was unloaded, and we pulled the lid off each box one by one and looked through every item.

So much stuff went into the trash that I thought it would be helpful to get one of those big trash bins used at construction sites. It was fantastic. I was throwing stuff away left and right.

That’s when the trash fairies showed up.

I’d spend an evening happily tossing one item after another into the garbage. By the time I came home from work the next night, some of the stuff had mysteriously migrated back inside the house. In my absence, Jean, Trent, and Troy had quietly retrieved everything they couldn’t bear to part with.

That’s how clearing clutter goes, doesn’t it? There’s an emotional component to our stuff that we often don’t recognize.

Hanging on to things can produce more than just a messy home. It can create physical and emotional barriers in our family and reveal areas where our faith in God is lacking. If we fear that God won’t come through for us, we may hedge our bets and hang on a little longer to that item we haven’t used in three years.

There are other reasons for clutter:

Insecurity – “I had never had much growing up.”
Skewed values – “I must keep everything because I was taught not to be wasteful.”
Guilt – “My late relative gave that to me.”
Shame – “But I spent so much money on that.”

Whatever the reason, it’s helpful to understand that everything we own costs us time, money, and energy in some real way. The resources we use to maintain all of the stuff we have can prevent us from moving forward into new opportunities … or make it a lot more difficult.

If you feel like the stuff in your life is keeping you from moving forward, today’s Focus on the Family Broadcast “Clearing Out the Clutter” is for you. With us is popular guest Kathi Lipp. She is an energetic, insightful, and humorous person, which will come in handy as we laugh our way through a conversation about the difficulties of trying to free ourselves of clutter.

Tune in on your local radio station, online, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or on our free phone app to learn how to get rid of stuff in your home that’s getting in the way of you enjoying a happier, healthier life.

Kathi’s book Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space is available for a gift of any amount. For more information, visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).