Expiration Dates

Who's here for the decluttering challenge? Me! I am! (Maybe you are, too?)

Today is Day 1 of the 15 Minute Decluttering Challenge I'm taking on for the rest of August. I love the way www.theholymess.com has broken this challenge down into manageable, bite-sized tasks! The thought of "I need to declutter my house" is so overwhelming, it's easier to not even start ... But "declutter expired items from the kitchen"? That's totally do-able. And, I'm happy to report that I have none. Task 1 done, and my kitchen shelves are much neater, because I ended up tidying them as I put checked items back - win-win!! If you're participating in the challenge with me, please share your kitchen cupboard clean up finds with us in the comments below. If you're really brave, post your before and after photos!

As I said in yesterday's post, this house declutter is about more than physical "stuff" - for me, it's also about decluttering my life.

In Luke 12: 15, Jesus said:“Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.” Another translation says it this way: “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”.

Just as it's so easy to overstock our pantries with canned goods and bags of pasta, to the point that we forget what we have and it expires before we can use it, we can also clutter up our minds and our souls. We have a tendency to cling onto unhelpful things and attitudes, moods and routines, and if we don't deal with them, they accumulate over time. If we don't choose to "set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" and to "set our minds on things above, not on earthly things", we hold onto negative and painful feelings, which ought to be cleared out and tossed away.

If you're feeling burned out and overwhelmed by your thoughts and emotions, or if you're feeling disorganised, or "scattered", I encourage you to take some time to ask yourself if there are any

negative influences or attitudes that are affecting your quality of life. And then consider your relationship with God ... Do you have any room for Him in your life? Can you set aside quality time this week to spend time alone with the Father, time to step back, catch your breath, and ask Him to focus your thoughts, reorganise your priorities, and get control of your emotions.

PS Here are the photos from my kitchen declutter today.

This is before:

And after:

See you tomorrow for Day 2.