Sunday, May 30, 2010

Three rules and 10 things you can get rid of before you move

We are moving to Colorado in two weeks and I’ve come up with three rules for sorting stuff before packing:

1. Do I use it?
2. If not, will I use it in a year?
3. If not, is the sentimental value worth moving it?

This eliminates:
1. jeans that once fit
2. single socks with no mate
3. old phone books
4. makeup that is two shades too dark but cost so much you don’t want to waste money by throwing it away
5. the fourth casserole dish with serving basket
6. old towels kept for rags
(Wait – don’t throw those away. They’re great for wrapping glassware, and can be tossed after the move.)
7. old formals that your grownup daughter never wore and your granddaughter won’t either
8. the two-pint containers of turkey drippings saved from Thanksgiving for soup someday
9. padlocks that have no keys
10. dried up ink pens from Disneyland

Some of these items can be recycled through thrift stores or sold on Ebay, but probably not the turkey drippings.

I know I’m not the only American who has kept things that should have been tossed or given away long ago, so if you have anything to add to the list, I’d love to hear from you.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Mom-care

What is it about a mother that makes her do things for her kids all the time? Even when no one’s looking? Even when no one knows? Especially her children.

I believe it is the God-gene in her – not in a scientific, physiological sense, but in a spirit sense. God’s fingerprint is on his creation. He breathed the breath of life into Adam, from whom he created a woman, and Adam named her Eve because she was the mother of all living.

Of course it is a God thing.

Who else would go through pain for our deliverance?

Who else would give without thanks and then give again anyway?

Who else would say, “I’ll take care of you,” and then do it even when we’re not looking?

Psalm 121:7 says,

The Lord will keep you from all harm –
he will watch over your life.


Yesterday, when the Toyota service department technician called me out to my car to see the split rubber on the inside of the left front tire, I remembered that verse.

It was the tire closest to oncoming traffic. All the other tires were in good shape. There’s an imbalance somewhere, a misalignment. The fix is easy, but the damages could have been horrific.

This is not the first time the Lord has watched over my life, nor will it be the last. Psalm 121:8 makes that clear:

the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.


There’s a little bit of Mom-care there, just like the little bit of God-care in the mother I remember.

Thank you, Lord.



Thanks, Mom.