God – This week Dorothy and I are making room in our home for a dear family member who needs to live with us for a while. We have had to focus on decluttering, giving away, and pitching items we have acquired and which take up space in our rooms, closets and drawers.
The sheer magnitude of this task and the size of the piles of stuff we have to deal with is overwhelming. Thankfully, it is at the time in our lives when we truly want simplicity. To find joy and the sacred in the simple and in the ordinary. Not yielding to the belief in advertising that long-lasting happiness is found in getting the latest gadget, the newest iPhone, the newest car, an expensive piece of furniture or high priced fashion.
We discover items we bought years ago, but never used. Items saved for later use, but never needed. Moneys spent on possessions which could’ve been better spent on others in need. Hours spent at the office to pay for possessions, time we could have used looking at more sunsets and rising moons, walking through the Houston Arboretum and Emmott Circle, or taking family trips, going to concerts, and being with others we love, just to name a few.
Lord, like millions of others, we love our stuff. But, except for the joy at time of purchase, things are not what make us happy. We find happiness in our experiences. We find value not in what we own but in who we share our lives with – our families and friends.
God, please help separate us from our stuff so we can be closer to others and nearer to You.
For those of us with too much stuff, please help us give it to others who have so much less.
With serving and working for our stuff less, we can spend more time in our service to You.
God, please help us refrain from buying things we do not really need. To clear the clutter from our lives and in our homes.
In doing so we make room for others in our hearts, for You and for Your love and light which bring us everlasting joy. Amen
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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.