No matter what you think, this doesn't have anything to do with money. It ALL ends up in a yard sale eventually!
These last few weeks I've been spending a lot of time at my dad's house going through stuff and trying to get ready for a yard sale this weekend. It's not easy, but it happens to almost everyone sooner or later. Your parents die or move into a nursing home or take off for the South Seas, and you are left to deal with the house full of stuff they left behind. It's bittersweet. One moment you find a treasured "Hot Wheel" toy from your childhood, the next moment you wrestle with exactly what should you do with it? EBay? In reality, although there can be some valuable things in ordinary houses, what you really want to do is just clean out the house. My parents moved into this house in 1956, and never got rid of anything. I never remember them EVER having yard sales as a kid. They lived through the depression, so it was a different mentality when it came to getting rid of stuff. It's absolutely amazing how much stuff they had. 50 years of accumulation. It's also kind of sad because material "things" often get in the way of what's really important in life.
When Sandy and I sold our house in March of 2006, we had several yard sales and sold practically all of our furniture. We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment and waited for the market to cool down a little. (Yes, I know, we should have waited longer - thank you very much!) While we were in the apartment we had a couch, a kitchen table and refrigerator, a TV, computer, plastic drawers for dressers, and our beds. Everything else was in storage. We were there all summer, and I bet we went to our storage unit maybe twice to get something. It was really eye opening how little we needed and how free I felt. We did a lot of fun things as a family, including the simple things like going for walks and playing baseball on the apartment lawn. It was a great experience, and the girls actually had to try and get along by sharing a room. Sometimes love grows stronger in smaller spaces. Sometimes fights break out........
Anyway, just about every Tuesday on my loop around the lake at Bonelli, Frank , Randy, and now John Sedor, have this conversation about "things". Why do we have so much stuff? How do we get rid of the clutter? How do we simplify our lives? Maybe I'm just hyper-sensitive to all of this right now because I'll be spending the next year of my life selling, donating, and throwing away stuff. I know I could hire professionals like dealers, estate experts, and auction houses, but that's not really the point. It's not about the money. The problem really is that we all have too much stuff that we just don't need. It complicates our lives. It's just more stuff to worry about, clean, organize, take care of, and of course insure. (You HAD to know I would throw that "insure" part in!) And we haven't even talked about consumption and the environment.......
When I backpack now I travel much lighter than I used to. Part of it is technology. Part of it is that I'm getting old and can't handle heavy loads anymore. I've found over the years that I'd just rather hike faster with less stuff. (Especially when I can borrow solar showers, hammocks, and water filters from my buddies!) Jesus and the disciples were the ultimate Ultra-Lite travelers. They didn't let possessions entice or enslave them. In Acts 2:44 the disciples even had a yard sale of sorts of their own! They were satisfied with what they had, and I guess that's the real point of my message. It should be about people and relationships, not "things".
Of course if you yourself are not satisfied with what you have, you'll know where you can find me Saturday! There will be plenty of hidden treasures to go around! "How many would you like?"
Jon "it's all yard sale fodder eventually" Boulware
