Do most people have one junk closet that everything gets squeezed into like the way I try to still wear my jeans so I don't have to go up another size?  I have a really scary closet in my house.  It is under the basement staircase.  It had things inside of it that I haven't touched in 10 years.  Way in the back of it, it had old copper wiring, carpet rolls, and extra wood scraps from when we built our house.  Closer to the door were bags of blankets, sheets, old toys, camping gear galore, suitcases, tennis rackets, and who knows what else.  Opening the closet is tricky, just like me sitting in my jeans takes some skill:  Do it the wrong way, the dam will break, and there will be spillage.

I am so joyful to report that I tackled the closet under the stairs on Sunday.  I took everything out.  Just doing that task took about two hours.  I might die from like a black lung within a week from inhaling so much dust, but I did it.  Have you ever seen that show where a professional organizer cleans out someone's house and puts everything into categories? They make a throw away pile, a give away pile, a yard sale pile, and a keep pile.  Well, that is exactly what I did.

Part of the process was easy, but part of it was difficult.  I sorted and sorted, and nearly broke my back.  I took all the camping gear... which is a lot of gear, lemme tell ya, 'cause I married me a mountain man... any way, I hauled all that stuff out to the shed...which I know is kinda like installing a trap door on a canoe. Now the shed is overflowing... but I am  working on it.

I have hauled off more loot to thrift stores.  I am now to the point where I am  venturing out to new thrift stores where they don't know me, so they won't wonder how one woman could possibly have THAT much stuff to give away.  It's shameful.

My bonus is that I have quite a good collection of things to have a decent yard sale this weekend. Plus, I have copper wiring to sell.  Cha-ching!  You know how I sold enough pimp style old gold bling bling last week to get my daughter's truck fixed?  Well, Adrian had a car accident two days later and we had to just fork over one arm and one leg to get it on the road again.  It's always something.  This summer has been majorly expensive with graduation, illness, dental procedures, dental emergencies, birthdays, car repairs on both cars, bla bla bla. It is bad.

This morning, you woulda thought there was something a little extra in my coffee beans because I cleaned out the boys' closet!  Actually, it was a two day project that I finished this morning.  I do have a life, ya know, and it is a very busy life with five children and things to do besides clean, which is like the main reason closets in this house end up so out of control in the first place.  But hey, five minutes here, ten minutes there, really adds up.

My point is this:  I am making progress!  And ya know what?  There really is more room for the holy spirit in my life. Going through the excess, taking real inventory of it, and then letting go of it, is good for the soul.  Just one closet, one drawer, or one shelf at a time.  Each time I step away from gluttony, brings me one step closer to glory!  Hallelujah!