Friday, March 12, 2010

Spring De-cluttering

My wife reminded me the other day it's almost time for our annual spring ritual. We have different names for it. She calls it spring cleaning. I call it de-cluttering. While she's pre-occupied with the vacuuming and dusting, I hoe out the winter accumulation of "stick-it-in-the-closets." That's what our youngest daughter long ago named our tendency to "bag, tag and stick in the closet" all the things that pile up on the dining room table over time. She'll insist everything's a "keeper." I'll point out the closet's full and we need to make room for the next cycle of "things we really don't need right now, but might someday come in handy." Maybe we should use the same ritual to "de-clutter" our lives. Perhaps it's time to sort out the anger, envy and desire for control that's taking up room in our spiritual closet. Spring, the season of Lent, may be the perfect time to make more room in our lives for God.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Surprise!

As Christians, we are constantly challenged to be open to God's presence in our daily lives. We are asked to be aware of ways in which the Holy Spirit works in our lives and faith to serve others. Sunday, our young people asked us to help them with a Heifer Project International endeavor. They hope to raise enough money to purchase animals to help a family pull itself out of poverty. They've asked the Heifer Project to send us more information about these projects. We'll be sharing that information with you in the coming weeks and hope you'll become excited about the effort as the young people are!