Letting Go

I did it. Today I did it. I took my first bag to Goodwill. I almost had heart palpitations doing it, but I did it. One large bag, gone. You can't hardly tell around the house, but it is a huge first step. I know I won't miss anything in that bag, but it still pangs a bit and I don't know why. I am beginning to part with my junk. It is exciting and terrifying all at once.

On other issues, I don't know if I can bring myself to give away the stuff that I know could make me money on Ebay. I have a basket full of maternity clothes that I could probably get about $30 for and I weigh it in my mind. It is heavy. On the one hand, it would be gone, no worries, someone else could use it and I wouldn't have to haul it again. On the other hand, that's $30. We are broke.

I need to revisit my plan. Yeah, THAT plan. I must act in faith. I know that if I give the Lord my best, I will be blessed. But isn't $30 a blessing? I have taken that first step in faith and now I have to follow up on this. I NEED to give it away to truly "cleanse my soul" of the "sin" of gluttony. Yep. I am a glutton to my clutter. Ew. Sick. Wrong. Just typing it makes me queasy.

Now a new issue. My generous relative has given us lots of nice clothes. I am assuming in the anticipation that we will keep re-using them. I do anticipate using a few things, but I don't think I can use ALL of the things. My two older boys have entirely different builds and are basically in the same size right now. Even though they are two years apart. I"m not sure which side of the family my youngest has taken after yet. This is my dilemma for the boys clothes. The girls clothes is another whole story. Even if I was pregnant right this minute (thank goodness no) Those clothes would have to be stored for 6 YEARS to be used. Even then, who knows if the second girl would have the same build as my first. How do I clear out these clothes with offending or hurting feelings? What am I afraid of that I can't do this?

The dishes. Well so far so good. I think it is actually working. The dishes are all done and I don't even feel like I did them. Dinner was cleaned up in a snap. It was amazing. The kids are excited to help and get some Mom time all to themselves if they want to rinse or dry and put away. There aren't cups all over the house. My two year old is getting used to the idea that if he gets a drink his cup has to make it back to the sink so he can find it the next time. Why didn't I think of this sooner? Less IS more! I love it!

Tomorrow I need to address the clothes issue and I'm not looking forward to it. I think I am going to have to actually talk to the generous relative and ask if she wants some of the things back. Ugh. Makes me feel rather ungrateful, but I am tired of drowning in clothes everywhere I step upstairs. I need each potty trained child to have about one load of laundry. Total. Otherwise, it just gets to be too much. Wish me luck!