The other day I was at my elderly parent’s home trying to organize, purge, and make the house “safer” to prevent anymore falls.  My mother has fallen and broken 2 bones in 4 weeks time.  One of the things that I have noticed in the last couple of months as her Alzheimer’s Disease has progressed is, the more her memory of relationships decline, the greater her attachment to “things” has become.  As I have cleaned out drawers to make room for needed essentials that lie in boxes on the floor, I have found hundreds of magazines, post-it notes, plastic grocery bags, and baggies of loose change hidden. One never knows when you might need directions from a store you visited two years ago, or a dime to call a friend! LOL

When I told my dad, who has Dementia that I was going to clean out their closet, he said “Now don’t get rid of everything, we might need”.  It didn’t matter that he and my mom wear the same 4 or 5 outfits over and over, because Heaven knows you couldn’t find anything new to wear in their closet packed with clothes that are 2 or 3 sizes too big, or from years ago that they just couldn’t bear to part with.  The thought occurred to me, “Is that what I’m doing with my life?”.  You see it’s NOT the “thing” that I need or really want!  It is the Time, Place, Emotions, Memory, Control, People I shared it with!!  THAT is what I don’t want to let go of!  It’s what the “thing” represents that is so hard to part with, because it’s comfortable to me, it’s what I know, and I’ve worn it for years!

I imagined God looking down on me and saying “Julie, I can’t give you what you “need” for the Future Hope I have PROMISED you, if you won’t clear out the clutter of the things from the past!  The things I have for you (Hope, Joy, Deep Friendships, Love, Renewed Purpose, etc.), that you really “Need” lie on the floor of your life unopened.  You’re tripping over them, while trying to hide from Me the things you so desperately want to keep.  Things that served a purpose “then”, but you have outgrown, outlived, or worn out.  Trust Me to give you what I know you “need”, and though you cannot see it now, will be what you “want” in days to come.”

Isaiah 43:19  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness, and streams in the wasteland.

How could I SEE what God is doing in my life right NOW:  Cradling me in His Loving Arms in my darkest moments.  Providing Strength to get through days of endless “To Do’s”, Taking me deeper in my relationship with Him, and all the while orchestrating People, Relationships, Opportunities, and Wisdom that I will “need” in days to come, when all I SEE is the death and wilderness of what was?  After hours of purging (8  large garbage bags and boxes filled with just his clothes – that were given as an answer to prayer to a men’s ministry for recovering addicts), there still remained a “Full” closet!  BUT . . .Now the closet is filled with the things that will serve him well today, and in the days to come.  When my dad looked at his closet he said “I know you had to throw something out, but I don’t know what it was, because it still looks full, and I think I might be able to find something now”!  ISN’T THAT THE POINT?!!

You see when we hold on to “What Was”, our life will Never be Filled with what “Could Be”!  When we finally Surrender letting go of what was – – What we let go of is an answer to prayer for someone else who needs it now, and we find our life FULL of what God PROMISES us for our future!

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plants to give you hope and a future.”

Father, YOU formed me in my momma’s womb!  YOU know everything about me:  Past, Present, and Future.  YOU know what I need more than I do, and Nothing takes you by surprise!  Your Word tells me in Psalm 139:16 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”  How could I Not Trust YOU?!  Forgive me for clinging on to “what was” out of my fear of “what will be”.  YOU were there in the good, the bad, and the ugly before, and YOU will be with me through every moment until I breathe my last breath, and I finally SEE YOU face to face!  Open my eyes to SEE the Clutter of my life, loosen my grip of fear, and give me the strength and courage to make room for YOUR NEW!