Attachment to stuff brings suffering

Growing up my step father was a business man. He owned a concrete company. As a grown up (and a Realtor) I understand what a rollercoaster the housing industry can be. Sometimes money was abundant and sometimes there was none.  He was the husband to my mother, who is a rollercoaster herself. Her drug addictions and brokenness caused a lot of havoc in our home. Some days I would come home from school to find our house tore apart and my mother nowhere to be found. Other times I would come home to gifts on my bed; clothing, perfume, books, cd’s anything my mother thought I would like. The home was cleaned and dinner on the stove. It was these times that I knew the world was “right”. Tonight I would sleep well because Momma was happy.

The last few years has taught me a lot about stuff, the importance of holding on and letting go. My journey through Ecclesiastes the last few weeks has been teaching me about the meaningless of so many things. One being stuff. Yes, again.

It’s been through these morning times I realized I am still attached to stuff. After all this time I still struggle with it. My eyes are never satisfied. My closet is never full enough. I want more and forget about all that I have. My view on stuff is distorted.

Gathering stuff makes me feel like everything is right in the world.

I realize cramming my day full of stuff to do and my closet full of clothing is not going to satisfy. It’s futile. Meaningless.

Unless my days are for God. Unless my stuff is for God. Than it’s all meaningless, a chasing after the wind. If the words of my mouth are not of encouragement and said in love, meaningless. If my work is for my advancement and the money used for more stuff, meaningless. If my time is spent coveting things on Pinterest and my eyes feasting on others’ lives on Facebook, meaningless.

My stuff is not what makes me. If I am only happy when I have stuff, then I feel good when I have it and horrible when I don’t. This makes life meaningless.

God does not look at me and see my stuff. He does not say “Well Misty that car you drive and those designer shoes you have on make you special. “  No, "God cares more about more character than my comfort" ~ Bryan Hurlbutt

 I have come to realize that if my bank account is full and the fridge is stuffed to the brim this does not mean that I have God’s approval. If I am lacking, this is not a sign of God’s disfavor.  

I am learning to be owned by nothing. I am learning to detach from this world and attach more and more each day to my Savior. Here is where I learn the secret to being content in any and every situation. {Philippians 4:12}

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Over the next year I will be working on letting go of more stuff.

·        Clothing. I will be going through the closet again. I have decided to lessen my footprint on this world. This year I will buy only second hand. That’s right. If I feel that something is really missing from my closet, I will be headed to Saver’s or the Goodwill. This helps local charities, supplies locals with jobs and lessens the landfills. It will make me second guess next time I see that sweet little shirt online.

·        Storage Units. The “big scare” made me second guess all of the stuff I have hoarded in a storage unit. If I can’t name what’s in there… I don’t need it. I will be going through these units and getting rid of the unnecessary.

·        Feasting my eyes. This December I took a break from Facebook and found myself on Pinterest… too much. Time limit. That’s how I will fix that.

·        My story. I am going to let my fingers flow more this year. I won’t be posting every time on Facebook. Just here on my little part of the web. Letting God redeem my ugly.

·        I am open to whatever God shares with my heart that needs to be given up.  

  Here is to a new year of letting go and detaching !

Moths, Rust and THIEVES

God is really teaching me to hold the things of this world lightly. Events of this year can't help but remind me in large ways that, STUFF is just stuff.

Today on our way to an open house, we stopped by one of our storage units. I know, sick that we had two. The one we were headed to kept our "garage" stuff. Replaceable things like my real estate signs and posts, professional paint spray guns, shovels, hoses, ladders, lawn mower, weed eaters etc. Then there were things that are not replaceable. Jeff's antique skill saw given to him by his Grandfather. Antique anvil. Antique vice. Things of that nature. Sure maybe we shouldn't have had them in a storage unit. However, we were holding them until we had a place of our own again. 

17 years of accumulation. GONE!!

Maybe that's just it. We were holding them.Things I have put value in are gone or ruined. 

This year alone, someone hit my Trooper and dinged it up terribly. Someone keyed the truck. Our finances have been a complete roller coaster. Sweaters literally have moth holes My home never stays clean. Animals have died left and right. Nothing of this world is forever. So why do I store them up?

I guess I am a tough, head strong disciple. It takes BIG things to get me to take a deep look at sin in my life. 

On my facebook page a sweet friend said " I know the kind of person you are and I know that had who ever has taken your property just asked, you would have just given it to them plus more most likely. But since they didn't ask I thank you for providing others with the things they must have needed more then you. May God bless your family with the things that you need in the future."

That's how I will look at. They must have needed it more than I. 

Thank you for all of your love and support on my FB wall. You all mean more then stuff to me.

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Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal ~Matthew 6:19

Oops... I did it again!

Well it's not really a mistake. I re-did another kitchen table. It was a ton of fun.

My favorite neighbor asked me in the comment section of one of my posts, to redo her kitchen table. Now all that's left of her requests is to braid her hair and do her makeup... I guess it's all I can do for all she has done for me!

We started with this generic table. Her grandmother had given it to her, she used to put her plants on it. I was nervous knowing it came from her grandmother. She reassured me to not worry.

I started by sanding it down and priming it.

Then I added an under coat. So that when I distressed it, the color would pop out. Make sense?

Next, I painted it mustardy yellow. Wish I could tell you the exact color. BUT the first time we had the color mixed it did not turn out right. So, I had the lady at Lowe's add some brown. Now it is my special mix ;) I can tell you I used Valspar. I really like this brand because it usually covers in one application.

Afterwards, I distressed using my electric hand sander and #60 block. Almost done, I added a "stain wash" to the top and sides. Last but not least I added a couple of coats of polyurethane.

Thanks favorite neighbor for letting me redo your table. It was a lot of fun!!

Things I have tried on Pinterest

I have this love of  Pinterest. It has a lot of great ideas and beautiful pictures. I use it for inspiration and a checklist. I use it to get more organized and for some amazing ideas on decor, staging, parties, crafts, travel ideas and wardrobe ideas. I love it. The thing is you need an invitation to become part of this elite little group. If you wanna, you can ask me to invite you and I will. Because I am sooooo nice like that!!  Here are some great things I have tried from Pinterest. Some were huge successes, while others were just great ideas. I have a list of about 100 other things I would like to try. I have to remind myself one at a time... I get too overwhelmed.

Successes:


This was a success so far. It made a huge difference under my sink. We will see in a week, after the bottles have hung there for a while. Best part of this, was that it was free... sort of, I mean I already had the tension rod in my basement from a year or so before. That counts right?I am afraid to show the before and afters. You all will judge.

(source)

I have made  a few chalk boards in  my day. This picture was the inspiration to the new chalkboard that hangs in my entry. I loved the ornate, distressed, white frame. I found a hideous gold frame at the local second hand store for $5.00. Everything else I had on hand. It took me less than an hour total.

(source)

The source has disappeared. It was inspiration for my messy summer do. Super easy.

 But I did copy this tutorial to get the foundation for it.

Tutorial

I used all of these for inspiration outfits. I mean seriously good stuff on here.

(source)

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I guess the only one that has truly been just a good idea was this one. I won't even show you the after. Lets just say I could not find my favorite shoe under the rubble of extra large purses.  

(source)

They were immediately hung back up in the coat/backpack/laundry room. Sure wish I had one of these. At last there is no room in my home for a space like this.

 (source)

I would settle for one of these.... Maybe if I beg and plead the L.O.V.E. of my life will build it for me!!

I would love to give you the source. Someone stole it and pinned it with out giving the credit. There is a tip for you. If you join pinterest make sure you give credit where credit is due!! Nice picture anyway.

(via Pinterest)

Deep stuff.... view at your own risk

Deep Stuff

So here I am, blogging again. As I mentioned in my post on STUFF I have some STUFF I am trying to sort out. Just as any good Real Estate Junkie would, I am using some tried and true HGTV stuff... You know. Sorting it out, like "here is the Give Away/ Donate Box (hereinafter referred to as the GAB, just a little contract law for you) and here is the Keep Box and here is the Throw Away Box." That's all good  and working out fine for the clothes and all of the decorative garb I have stuffed in the basement. 


You see it's not so easy with the mental STUFF. I mean who really wants to pick through my leftovers in the GAB? 


Then I got to thinking. Well this blog is kind of my GAB. Its a plat form of sorts. That also got me thinking. Just what kind of blog am I running here? I have said in the past that I heart blogs. I read all sorts of blogs. Decorating Blogs, Cooking Blogs, Local Mission Blogs, International Mission Blogs, Fashion Blogs, you name it... I have seen it. So who. am. I? I am just a small fish in a very large ocean of blogs, or some call it blogland. So... I am going to be all of the above. Yep, I am going to educate you on this crazy AWESOME Real Estate market we are experiencing. You do realize you are living in history and you are going to be able to share this with your grand kids, in the home you share, because you bought at a time when real estate was cheap, and rates were at an all time low. Now the countries debt is sooooooo bad your grand kids can't afford jack!! Is that positive enough for ya.....? Just kidding I won't be that negative, but I will educate you. I will share some great recipes, some trendy fashion tips, of course some wonderful DIY projects and I am going to ask you to stretch outside yourself to make this world a better place. I hope to make some memories with you and I hope you stick around for the deep stuff.


Praying that when it is all said and done I have glorified God.  
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.1 Corinthians 10:31

STUFF, CLUTTER, CHAOS

When I list a home, one of the first questions said home seller asks is "What. do. we. need. to. do. to get. ready. to. put. this. house. on. the. market?" My answer is always get rid of your stuff, especially your personal stuff. I know that it is always hard to get organized and get rid of all the sentimental STUFF... but  it will benefit you in the end. You are trying to make the buyer  visualize themselves living there, not visiting you! Make sense? So what is STUFF you ask? Wait, wait for it... I am about to show you...

Yes, this is an actual home I had the pleasure of showing a buyer.

 (Do you ever think that is what the inside of our heads look like some days?)

Well if you are more of a wordy person I am going to give you the definition according to Webster,I am generous like that. I added my own commentary because believe it or not, I am having issues with my own stuff right now.

 STUFF according to Webster

1

: materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: asa obsolete : military baggageb : personal property

2

: material to be manufactured, wrought, or used in construction

3

: a finished textile suitable for clothing; especially : wool or worsted material ( I have A LOT of this)

4

a : literary or artistic production (Need more of this)b : writing, discourse, talk, or ideas of little value : trash

5

a : an unspecified material substance or aggregate of matter<volcanic rock is curious stuff>

Curious Stuff I See

b : something (as a drug or food) consumed or introduced into the body by humans ( Doing a little to much of this lately)c : a matter to be considered <the truth was heady stuff><long-term policy stuff> (this seems to be the REAL issue lately)
d : a group or scattering of miscellaneous objects or articles<pick that stuff up off the floor>; also : nonphysical unspecified material <conservation and … all kinds of goodstuff — Eric Korn>

6

This is My Good Stuff

a : fundamental material : substance <the stuff of greatness>b : subject matter 

7

: special knowledge or capability (Did I mention I am an Associate Broker? It gives me special capabilities and special knowledge that not an ordinary Realtor has... just sayin'.) 

8

a : spin imparted to a thrown or hit ball to make it curve or change courseb : the movement of a baseball pitch out of its apparent line of flight : the liveliness of a pitch <greatest pitcher of my time … had tremendous stuff — Ted Williams>

9

: Dunk Shot

— stuff·less adjective ( Not really possible) 

Do you get it? Get rid of your stuff. Not just shove and hide, get rid of it! Store it in a storage unit, throw it away, DONATE it. Believe it or not we Americans have more stuff then we know what to do with. There are people out there that need our stuff, better yet they need our money that WE use to buy more useless stuff. Wow, that was a tangent. (Are you starting to see the STUFF I am trying to deal with?). Anyway I have some really great places you can donate your hard earned money to help those less fortunate... Try these blogs if you are interested Wannabe Humanitarian, The Life and Times of the Mangine Many, or you could try VWM. I have lots of others if you are wondering.

Well,wait you say... its not that easy. I know, I know.The stuff has memories, good and bad. You can't just walk away from it. Something about it brings you pleasure... or pain. You can do it, and you will be better for it.How do I know? I am dealing with my own stuff right now. I have too much stuff. So much stuff that I feel like I can't breathe. This week has been devoted to getting rid of stuff. Physical stuff,material stuff, heart stuff. I will keep you posted on how it goes.I know its not easy, I just keep HOPE knowing that in the end it will be better for me. Knowing that you and all those I come in contact with will want to stay a while, make some memories... not just visit.