The Mennobrarian

Too much or never enough?

04:15, Sunday, December 9, 2007 .. Posted in Homemaking .. 4 comments .. Link

I abhor hoarding. If our house was enormous as opposed to the small one-story it is, it is without a doubt that I would still worry about having too many things in the house. Too many things taking up space, not being useful, collecting dust, and not serving a purpose. You may have heard me expound on this topic before, but take heed. Are we storing up treasures here on earth or in heaven? You can search your home from attic to crawlspace and it is guaranteed that you will not find a single thing that will accompany you on your final trip home. We will need none of it when we leave earth! It's just not coming with us.

This is something God has been speaking to my heart about in recent years. He may be calling me back to learn from generations of my family for whom material possessions meant little. Indeed, so little that upon the death of a family member, a public auction would be held to sell all of the belongings that were not given away during their life, from the house right down to the last rubber band in the bottom of a drawer.

Recently, a dear sister in Christ spoke of an unfortunate illness suffered by her mother. Today, we would call her mother a "hoarder", but fifty years ago we had no term for what she did. Few people outside of the immediate family knew that the inside of this family's house consisted of a thin maze (or walkway) through rooms piled with junk from the floor to the ceiling. Even in the children's rooms, each child had a small corner for their bed and a chest of drawers for their things, while the rest of the room was storage for more of whatever their parent's thought would be useful on that elusive day that never arrived: Some day. I felt this woman's pain as she told me that neither her family's minister, his wife, nor anyone else in their fellowship had ever entered the family home. They were too ashamed! The children never invited their friends over, no family gatherings were ever held at their house, what a sad, lonely place to grow up. It was only a few months ago that this woman's mother died (the father had died not long before) and the siblings got together to sort out the dreadful task of cleaning out the house. While they were there working, the minister stopped by, and great understanding registered on his face as he walked the narrow aisles through the house. He finally knew why he had never been invited inside.

While few (hopefully none!) of you reading this will incur junk as this woman's mother did, we can still be vigilant in our own lives to guard against excessiveness.

Let me be clear that I am not condemning wealth, though wealth is not something that should be accumulated for its own sake.

In a book written by a "professional organizer" (if you can believe there are such things!) the author mentioned that in every chaotic home he is hired to declutter and organize, there is always a shelf of self-help books. Let us turn to the only real self-help book, to see what it says about earthly possessions:

When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; (Isiah 57:13)

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. (Matthew 6:19)

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. (1 Timothy 6:7)
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Hello!

09:58, Monday, December 10, 2007 .. Posted by http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Roseleona
Though I am not a adult with a house of my own, I can take what you wrote for a reminder that my room should not get cluttered with unnessasary things.
Thankyou for the comment. :-) I loved it.

~Rose

I'm so glad you found this helpful, Rose.

Edited by Mennobrarian on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 01:48

Hoarding

07:43, Monday, December 10, 2007 .. Posted by melaniedawn
Oh, how your post spoke to me!!! I have been on a journey to clear my house and mind of clutter for a few years now. All of these material things are NOTHING in comparison to God's Kingdom!!!
My great-grandmother, who passed on about 18 years ago, was a hoarder like the lady you described. I can remember walking through a junk-lined path through her house to get to a chair to sit in. This lady kept everything, from magazines to potato chip bags; I can remember her letting me read a magazine in her house in the 1970's which was published during WW11 !!! It came from a stack of many others. She was the sweetest great-grandma you could ever ask for, but something must have been wrong for her to hoard like that. I don't think it was the accumulation of things so much as the not being able to let things go.
Anyway, I loved you post and I should read it often as a reminder to myself.
Melanie

Oh Melanie, I am so sorry to hear about your great- grandmother. How awful it must be to feel that you need to accumulate such nonsense! I am glad this post "spoke" to you. It is a daily battle for all of us to oppose the common and worldly belief that if we just have more things, we will be satisfied.
Monica
Monica

Edited by Mennobrarian on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 01:52

Hi!!

10:54, Tuesday, December 11, 2007 .. Posted by Kate
Hi!Thanks for your comment!
Mom gave me one of the bookplates you sent!It's Really pretty!I'm using it for a bookmark in my Bible.: )

Too bad you aren't a user on Homeschool blogger.Rose And me wish we could have you on our friends list: )
But we can do the second closest thing! ~ Make a link!: )

I'm going to go do it.: )
Love from,
Kate

I'm so glad you like the bookplate! Thanks for the link.

Edited by Mennobrarian on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 01:53

Hording

03:23, Tuesday, December 11, 2007 .. Posted by rildapeel1
It is a thing of nature I suppose to gather but what we gather is what makes us rich in God or other. It can become like greed when it is taking over. I know what you mean about the woman hording. My MIL is like that even in the Nursing Home she has things all around just taking up space and have really no value. To me it is a thing of surrounding herself with this stuff that in time will become apart of her. To say something important. The more she gets the happier she is. When we cleaned her home she was rich in many things but the key was she could not find it. LOL! Had 20 bars of soap, clothes of ALL sizes and even children's, new and old, guessing 50 pairs of curtains. Some new and some old. I could go on. She never had much money to buy new stuff so she shopped at yard sales. I told family she lived like a poor woman but she really was rich. In a strange way. It did benefit someone though from her gathering for we took lots to The Good Will we even thought they would run out of room when they asked how much more we had~they made room and where so glad to get it. It was clean so that really made a huge difference. Have a Blessed Christmas! Thanks for sharing! *U*