Stuff and More Stuff

Okay, so I haven't gotten the 100 things yet - but I've got some good ideas. It's funny how the more I want to get rid of, the more I realize I have.

I have many things that people have given me. There are thingamabobs and doohickeys and this and that. A lot of it just sits around. But each thing reminds me of the person who gave it to me. The "clean-up" shows would tell me that it's not the thing, but the person and thought behind the object that counts. But does it? What if that person comes to my house and looks for the given object? Have I disrespected them by passing it along to someone else?

I have many things that I have picked up along the way. There's the stuffed squirrel I found along the side of the road, and the princess crown I found in a parking lot. There are things I purchased on sale, and stuff I got free at a race expo. I have two batons leftover from my high school band days. For some inexplicable reason, each of these has some tie to my heart. But is it emotion or some freaky hoarding thing?

I have many things that I like that have no real purpose. I have several coin banks that hold a small amount of money. I have mugs that hold paper clips. I have empty vases and frames. I have stuff that I like to look at, but rarely do because it's behind some other stuff. So would I even notice if it weren't there anymore?

I guess the point is that I have a lot of stuff. While I like much of it, most of it just takes up space. But tomorrow I'm going to decide which stuff is going on to become someone else's stuff. I'm learning that we really have so much stuff that we really just don't need.

In the end, I think it's the things that really matter - family, love, friends, prayer, and God - that we can't ever really get enough of. But if we're blessed, those are the things that we will never be without.