To keep or not to keep?

Ever since I got home from sunny QLD and stepped into my home, I have had the overwhelming desire to sort through and rearrange almost everything! I don't have much tolerance for clutter, everything needs a place and if it doesn't, I don't rest until I find one for it.

Due to the extreme heat we experienced last week, I wandered around my house aimlessly trying to ignore the piles of STUFF that needed to be put away. I had no energy to move, change, or sort, however I did manage to go through the kids bedrooms and the toy room and put around 10 bags of clothes, toys, bit and pieces into the Salvation Army wheelie bins!

Now thanks to the cooler weather today, I was into it again, this time my wardrobe which seems to collect all sorts of odds and ends. I managed to fill a 60 litre container full of old letters and cards. As I was going through them (and lots of other things) I couldn't help but think about all those people in Victoria who lost their homes, all their stuff in a matter of minutes from the bush fires.

I like to hold onto things for sentimental value, but I realise I cant keep everything, and when I think about how quickly it can all disappear, it makes me wonder if any of it is worth keeping at all!

But I keep thinking about the things I wish my mum kept from my childhood, and so I try to keep handfuls of mementos for my children. However, if God allows it all to be destroyed by fire, (one day it most likely will be) then so be it!

As I go through my things I can't stop thinking about all the hundreds of people tonight in Victoria who own only the clothes on the backs. Everything they owned has been destroyed by fire, I pray that they may turn to the only One who can give them the most precious thing in this world, the salvation of their souls.