Talking About Things

Our Little Yellow Cottage

Since Susan and I have downsized about as much as a person can without moving under a 2 million dollar bridge I have become inundated with all sorts of suggestions about what to do with the stuff we have "housed" at various and sundry places. Once we moved into the cottage we now occupy we began looking at things we probably would never use again as well as things we couldn't afford to replace if we got rid of them and a few things that couldn't be replaced at any price.

Most of our furniture has either been handed off to our children or friends who needed and would use what we were giving away. Oh, I know we probably could have gone on "Southeast Texas dot com" and made a few dollars by selling that stuff.  But then, I have never been one for selling something when I could give it to someone who couldn't buy it but certainly could use it. Let's see we gave away a complete dinning set with hutch and buffet; Three bedroom suits (Bed frame, mattresses, dresser and chest); and a bunch of other stuff.  After all they were just things. Well,  right now that's what I am doing . . . thinking about "Things."

What we didn't give away we stored, first in a storage facility and later at our children's homes  The rest we have kept around the cottage. It's crowded to be sure. Our small cottage was not designed for 21st century life. It is more like 19th century life. Small rooms and tiny closets.

In spite of that we decided we'd keep some of our "stuff." So we have furniture in our house. It is just

closer together than the furniture you probably have in your house. Our open spaces are more like walkways than open areas. Everyone takes the same route to the bathroom. We opted to keep it that way because, well . . . we just wanted to.  Besides we needed  place to sit and eat; sit and watch TV; and a place to sleep.

I mentioned that our house is a model home for 19th century Southeast Texas. The closets were built for an era when men had a set of work clothes and a set of Sunday go to meeting clothes. Same for the ladies.

Needless to say the house over flows
with clothing and other personal item. Truth is, when I am gone my kids are going to look around and rifle through my stuff, scratch their heads and mutter to themselves, "What was Dad thinking by keeping this stuff?"

Well, I am still here and about to tell you.  So, when I am gone and you are sorting through my "things" aka "stuff'" please be kind in your comments about what you find. Each one of the things I have kept has a story behind them. In most cases it is a story you'll never know but that was important to me. If they were lined up in the order I received them they might well reveal a lot of the story of my life . . . they do to me.

All those things kept represent chapters in my life.  I hope the story they tell reminds you of the song, "and may all who come behind us find us faithful." When our children sort through all our "stuff" what will it reveal about our life and what was important? 

I hope my stuff reminds you of what was important to me.:

• I hope it helps you see how important my sense of a "calling from God" to preach was to me;
• I hope it enables you see how much I loved your mother;
• I hope you are reminded how proud I was of each of my children and loved each one as best I knew how;
• I hope you are reminded of how much I valued friends and loyalty;
• And lastly I hope it will help you focus on what should be important in your life.

I'll tell you now that the reason for some of the things I have kept has nothing to do with their intrinsic value or usefulness. These are things that derive their value from the hands that have touched them.

• I've kept my father's tools because his hands touched them and he used them to feed, clothe and shelter our family as I grew up;
• I have kept some of my mother's kitchen tools (bowls and gadgets) because they remind me how much she did to make our home a happy place to be;
• I have several boxes of things I've garnered from my many journeys and the places of ministry where I served . . . they remind me of the folks I met along the way and the wonderful things God did in those places;
• Some I kept because they reminded me of you while others remind me of your mom and our life together before any of you came along;  
• Some I kept because I might need them "down the road:"
• And a few I kept, well, simply because I wanted to . . . no reason.

I'll tell you now that some of it will be just stuff and may well be just junk to you . . . and that is OK. But as long as I am around it will have a place, even if not a place of honor, in my life. As long as it still serves as a peg upon which my mind has hung some memory that is important to me I'll treat them as the treasures they are. Like the saying goes, "One man treasure is another man's junk."

However, I'll warn you now . . . . not everything you find in and among my stuff is without value! To be sure, for me it all has value because of where it takes me in a lifetime of making memories. However some of this "stuff" actually has real (monetary) value.

So here is my advise: As you go through my things and you find something and wonder, "Why in the world did Dad keep this?" take a minute and ask your mom she might give you a reason that will add to its worth for you as well. 

I might as well go ahead and remind you of something about myself that you should already know but might have missed along the way. I have never been one to broadcast my business so I need to tell you that in and amongst all those sentimental treasures I have kept across these many years are sprinkled a handful of items that also have real value, i.e., they might actually be worth some money

So sort carefully and try and see the sentimental journey all this stuff represent while keeping an eye open for that occasional material treasure.