January 31, 2008

• ~ CLUTTER CONTROL ~

    
  
  “STUFF”

  Here’s to our things – our junk – our stuff!
  No matter how much, there’s never enough.
  There’s stuff in our drawers, stuff in our closets,
  And empty containers for future deposits.
  

  We’ve got stuff in the attic and in the garage
  Jumbled together, the small with the large.
  Broken or useless, in bags without measure
  Kept for the time one will think it a treasure.
  

  What is it with “stuff” that we hold it so dear,
  That we cram it in there and jam it in here?
  Our children share rooms until they are grown,
  But most family’s stuff has a room of its own!
  

  The heap we amass in our own life’s duration,
  We solemnly bequeath to the next generation;
  Who will stack up that stuff to such dizzying heights
  That just walking by it would give one a fright!
  

  How was the thought born upon this good earth
  That the sum of our stuff is our measure of worth?
  That all that we are is all that we own?
  How very far from the truth we have grown!
  

  Is it stuff that will save us? Can it forgive?
  Does it validate the life that we live?
  Can the contents of bags and boxes and closets
  Affect the way God looks upon us?
  

  Was He seeing this weakness, had He a clue,
  When He proclaimed that in Heaven, “All things will be new!”?
  When He comes in His glory, surely it will be clear
  That our stuff is just junk – and we’ll leave it all here!
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
    The Four-Box Dejunking Method
       *This method is recommended by many experts.
  
  1. Get four boxes and label them:
  
       Trash
       Give Away 
       Storage
       Put Away
  (You may also want a box for things to sell.)
  
  2. As you go through the items in your current work zone,
  force yourself to make a decision about each item you pick up and place it in the correct box.
  Indecision is often the biggest problem in dealing with clutter.
  
  3. Near the end of your appointed work time (marked by a timer), appropriately dispose of box contents:
  * Relocate Put-Away items.
  * Place Give-Away items in car to take to donation center.
  * Put storage items, as well as items for your summer yard sale
      or eBay sales, in clearly labeled boxes in your storage area.
  * Throw away the rest quickly without a second thought.
  
  Prevent Clutter
       To prevent clutter from growing back,
  try one or all of the following suggestions.
  
  1. Hold Your Ground.
       After a particular area (as small as one counter top) has been cleared,
  do a daily clutter check to make sure no clutter is permitted to return.
  You might assign a child as a “clutter police” to patrol certain areas.
  
  2. Find a Place for Everything.
       Every item needs a home and each member of your family needs to know where that home is.
       Keep eliminating stuff until everything fits in the space you have available,
  rather than wishing for something you do not have — more space for more stuff!
  
  3. Build Good Habits.
       Work hard on the habit of returning items to their homes
  and dealing with clutter the Four Box way.
  
  4. “One Comes In, One Goes Out” Rule.
       When you buy a new item, a like item must be discarded, recycled, sold, or donated.
  This keeps the sheer number of items below the clutter point.
  It can also save money as you consider if you really need or want to
  buy a new item badly enough to release one you already have.
  
  5. Don’t Buy It.
       It is more cost effective to rent some seldom-needed items or to borrow them from your public, church,
  or home-school library.  This is another way to keep down the volume of material in your home.
  
  
  
  
  
  ~ Quotes of the Day ~
  
  Be strong!
  We are not here to play, to dream, to drift,
  We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.
  Shun not the struggle, face it, ’tis God’s gift.  Be strong!
  Say not the days are evil – who’s to blame? And fold the hands and acquiesce – O shame.
  Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.
  Be strong! It matters not how deep-entrenched the wrong, how hard the battle goes,
  the day how long, Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.
  ~ Maltbie Davenport (Mattie D) Babcock
  
  
  
  Do not yield to the temptation of looking at everything at once, as if everything would happen at once,
  and all the events of the day be crowded into an hour. Do not thus forecast, but take each thing as it comes to you,
  and look upon it as the present expression of the will of God concerning you;
  then regard the next in the same way, and thus receive your day piece by piece from Him
  who will remember always when He gives you work to do, that you need strength to do it. 
  Often, when you have almost fainted in spirit, the thought comes, “If thou hast run with the footmen,
  and they have wearied thee, what shalt thou do with the horsemen?”
  Put it from you, it is a faithless thought; if you need more strength,
  you will have it, be sure of that; or the call to greater exertion may never come to you.
  Your business is with the present;
  leave the future in His hands who will be sure to do the best, the very best for you.
  ~ Priscilla Maurice
  
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