Christmas is over

Can I sing a song? Even if there is technically a few days left of Christmas? Actually this year was a great advent and Christmas. I felt really able to worship all through the advent season and I was somehow able to accomplish all of the gift projects I had to do. And when I came home from Atlanta the house wasn't that hard to get back into control. (I was really dreading walking through the door because Jim and his friends had spent two days shooting 11 short films in our dining room which isn't very big... and the house was totally out of control before we left anyway). But, my blessed husband made a mammoth effort and the house was nearly back to zero when I came in! What a gift.

I've been thinking a lot about our house of late. We have so much stuff and much of it is special and should be kept but we really don't have a lot of space. And I find it overwhelming and oppressive. So, I've made the goal to cull and declutter and assign a place for everything in our home by August. And I've been going at it for about three months now. But it's been hard and sometimes I don't want to do it anymore because there is just so much. Today I spent a total of 3 1/2 hours on the phone with my longest friend (who stayed in my tornado-blown home over Christmas) and she was such an encouragement to me. She had so many good ideas for ways to tame the mountains of stuff. And she really helped me to recognize that I have had some successes like my kitchen and some of my closets. She also helped me to recognize that I cannot do this completely on my own, which I think I must have known on some level. I asked Jim to help me execute a plan and make this goal of August and he was so supportive. So now, while there is still a lot left to be accomplished, I'm feeling more refreshed than overhwelmed. Maybe I'll post an overview of the full plan once it is set.