And I actually have a hand painted sign with this saying on it that’s hung above my front door for years, three different houses now, and still, I can’t bring myself to part with it… maybe home means something else entirely.
Over these last several weeks God’s been teaching me a lot about whittling, and not that I’ve ever carved a single thing from wood in my life, though, I think I may have tried as a child, still, whittling is the word that comes to mind, at least as of late it is.
You see, yesterday I started packing for a move across country, literally; from Florida, to where I grew up in Oregon, except this time I’m leaving almost everything I own behind; parting with an entire household of goods, and I won’t lie, it’s a mixed bag of emotions. On the one end of the spectrum is a freeing feeling, a feeling of new beginnings, and even more exciting; adventure! And on the other end is everything that goes along with all of one’s stuff: the memories attached to it and that dreaded word; sentimentality. And if there’s one thing I am, then it’s this: dreadfully sentimental, to the point that I actually gave my farmhouse country pine table a hug goodbye last week before I let it go to its new owners. Hey, it was a good table. But parting with one’s stuff can be a bit traumatic and yet, through it all, God reminds me; “it’s just stuff, Jen.” That, and I did vow when I moved it all to Florida three years ago, “I’ll never move it again!” and so I figure this is just God’s way of holding me to my word. Yeah, whittling.
Whittling down to what’s really important, what really matters, and what can you absolutely not part with? And so far, I have about five boxes, small boxes, and to be honest, what they’re mostly filled with are pictures, a few trinkets, antiques, things that were my Grandmother’s, my Mother’s, things that my Children gave me, friend’s gave me, even a twenty eight year old teddy bear, and the more I think about it, what it really all boils down to, what seems to matter most are those things that are personal, that have a story behind them. Couches and tables and chairs are all replaceable, but not oil paintings by a Great, Great, Grandmother, or that clay heart that forever holds your child’s hand print in it when they were all of four, and yet, even as I type this I realize that compared to some, five boxes is a lot, and for all of it I am thankful. Through it all, God reminds me that stuff, honestly, is just stuff anyway, and that it’s only the people behind it that makes it special. When whittling, you really start to narrow down your priorities, until much like the wood carver, the more you shave away, the clearer you can see the picture, and that’s exactly how I like to think of it.
As God helps me whittle down to what really matters in my life, I find at the same time He whittles away at me, and that’s a good thing I think, because, whenever we find ourselves under the knife of the Expert Carpenter we can expect great things! Whenever God pulls out the knife in our lives He does so for good reason, and even if it seems painful for the moment, we can rest assure that when He’s finished we will emerge – changed. Whenever we find ourselves being pared down in the hands of Jesus our prayer should be, “God, shave away! shave away! Until literally, this ‘block of wood’ becomes all you intend it to be.”
You know, it may take a lifetime, but the way I see it is, it can be a lifetime of adventure, and when I get to the end of it I look forward to the unveiling. For now, it’s all about the road trip but what I’m finding out is, is this; the lighter you pack, the easier it is to get to where you’re going. Only keep what matters – give away the rest!
