Devotions
from The Woods @Wanamaker
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We have lived in our house in Silver Lake for 44 years now. That’s a long time to stay in one spot. Over the years I have accumulated a lot of stuff!! Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the stuff! I have boxes in my basement that I haven’t opened in at least 15 years! Some are marked with my kid’s names and some are marked keepsakes. Slowly but surely I am beginning to find homes for all those boxes! I have had the feeling of urgency lately to de-clutter my home! The last thing I want is for my kids to have to go through all that stuff and declare, “Man, my mother was a hoarder!”
The trouble is I start to go through some of those boxes and then I start down memory lane and think about all the memories that go into all the things packed neatly away in those boxes. Trinkets from the kid’s childhoods, awards they earned for different events, notes from friends, gifts from children, and then before I know it I have spent the entire day going through just one box! So many happy memories, some unhappy ones, so many thoughts, so many “what if’s” go through my mind! Sometimes as I remember those memories I wish I could turn back the clock and relive those days and then there are times I am so thankful that we got past those days! You haven’t lived until you have experienced having 7 teenagers, ages 13- 18, in your home at one time! I look back at those days and wonder how I did it! Oh the hormones and testosterone! And to top it all off we only had one bathroom! But those were the good days when things were simple, especially when you compare it to today! Today we have so much clutter in our lives! There are so many things we tend to be anxious over. So many external things that cause anxiety! Back then we had simple things like who was taking the most time in the bathroom, whose turn was it to drive the car, who didn’t start their project until the night before it was due, who got a down slip in the mail and got grounded, who wore someone’s shirt without their permission, who forgot their lunch, etc. Today we worry about masks and sanitizing everything, going to school on line vs in school learning, vaccines or no vaccines, getting Covid-19, taxes going up, gas prices going up, juggling schedules and the list goes on. The Bible clearly tells us in Philippians that we are not to be anxious about anything, but to trust everything to Jesus! It also goes on to tell us what to think on. We can let our minds dictate how we handle all those things that go on around us. We can determine what to put into our storage boxes (our minds and heart). Philippians 4:8-9 tells us, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. So along with continually de-cluttering my house, I also need to continually de-clutter my mind. I need to make sure that I am not anxious about all the things that I really can’t change. Every day is a new day! Every day is a new opportunity and a gift from above. We really do have a lot that is praiseworthy! So think on those things and hand the rest to Jesus to carry for you! Blessings, Pastor Fran
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AuthorNotes from the Staff @The Woods Archives
March 2023
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