Spring Cleaning

What is it about this time of year, that gets you all motivated to buy new tennis shoes, get on your bike, remove weeds, fight back menacing (and by that I mean huge, thorny bushes that scratch you up and leave welts) trees, and clean. I am using the term “cleaning” very loosely—because, although there is some of that going on too, it really would fit more under the category of purging.

“Spring Purging” is just not as catchy, somehow.

I have determined that we have too much stuff and have committed to touch everything in this house and decide if it stays or goes. My bedroom was first on the list. It has really become more like a black hole in there—especially the closet. This is turning out to be a long-time project because I am finding it is a slow process to touch everything. Not only that, I have not been relieved of my other duties, while I work on this pet project! To be honest, I am still making my way around my bedroom. But to be fair, it did have the computer and filing cabinets and a whole closets’ worth of stuff that we moved in to make room for my parents.

Right now I am purging the filing cabinets. I have collected vast amounts of papers on a myriad of subjects. BUT! We only need one. It must all fit into one—and the rest is garbage…or passed on to the girls. Staying true to my commitment I am touching every paper and determining its worth. I have found some interesting things, but mostly it is only of interest to me because it is a part of our history.  And although the memories are priceless, the papers are worthless.

Yesterday, I found some old chore charts and contracts and even goal sheets that we did throughout the years with the girls growing up. Some of them I didn’t remember doing, but there was the proof right there in black in white, with my handwriting. I read and studied a lot and we tried many different things-all in an effort to be the best parents we could be. The things that worked became a part of us and the things that didn’t became forgotten papers in the filing cabinet.

On the surface, it is just a cleaning project. But more than that, I could see a pattern and a life lesson. What we kept and became a part of us is what ever made a difference, motivated a change in their hearts or actions. We didn’t want the girls to just know how to clean the bathroom, we wanted a clean bathroom, for example. And more importantly, we wanted them to not just know the Sunday school answers, but to live them. I hope and pray that I accomplish that goal.

I felt that same lesson being taught by Jesus as I read His answer to those that persecuted him for healing on the Sabbath and then hated him more when he claimed to be the Son of God: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” It isn’t enough to know what the scriptures say. We aren’t saved by being able to recite the laws and the verses. We are saved by living them and making them a part of us. We are saved by finding Christ and His atonement. The only real way to change your heart.