All The Things: Goodbye #noClutterNovember

Don't worry, you didn't miss #Days25through30....

As prepared as I was to continue this goal to completion (even while travelling for the holidays), 

I almost didn't make it. 

After being emersed in disfunctional family confrontations and fighting festive Thanksgiving celebrations with my family back home, I didn't have it in me to continue processing while away, (even if I DID do my due diligence of  "pre-clutter removal" before I left on our holiday trip!). 

So while the blog got sidelined, the efforts did not

...but I will admit that after not blogging for 3 consecutive days, I was tempted to just leave the project "open-ended" (which is my typical, less-effective style)...however, if I had quit, it would have been devestating to me and my psyche.

...

"The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is-

has God changed the things that really matter to you?"

-Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

...

At some point during this month-long journey, my husband and I read the above quote, and I thought,

 "THAT is what I want for myself in the end!"

I want to...... 

look at things in a different way, 

loose my attraction for the old things, and 

let God shift my perspective for things that really matter to me.

...Needless to say, while God has redeemed my life, there are a few areas that need, what I would like to call, "redemption of perspective"

...so in that way, I'm not quite through #theminimalistproject. 

BUT...

there has been progress as evidenced by this text exchange when my friend offered me a valance to match Sadie's bedding....

...and then there was that time that I looked this "75%OFF -clearance sign" in the face and gave it the cold shoulder.

...Because even though you "can," doesn't mean you "should."

To some, you may have this self-control already mastered....

For me, I'm learning to "Just Say No" to a good deal excess. 

I mean, I always knew how to say No,....I just didn't want to. 

I'm learning how to "want it."

So that all leads to....

November 25th, my 25 things:

(representative of ....Maternity Clothes...

because we are done having sweet, sweet Robinson babies, 

but also because we already have a sweet Robinson baby, times 4!)

#Day25

November 26th, my 26 things:

Yep, those are seashells from our first ever family vacation to the Jersey shore...2012! 

I wish I could explain the significance of that trip, but these shells should tell you the whole story....Oh, wait! They mean nothing to you, and even after looking at them, you still know nothing about our meaningful family vacation?! 

Oh, that's right, that's because they are just shells....

which is why they had to go.

[But I did keep just 1 big one to make into a Christmas ornament to commemorate our trip....

because 1 is enough! 

(unless you're talking Robinson babies, and then 4 would be enough)]

#Day26

November 27th, my 27 things:

(outgrown winter coats and Paul's excess clothes...because #America)

#Day27

November 28th and November 29th, my 57 things:

Lots of baby foods....praise God, Sadie's palate repair means new textures and foods, finally! 

(...and next to go is the pump and all the pump parts, because after 13 months, enough is enough.)

#Day28 #Day29

November 30th, my 30 things:

...this one is a bit more conceptual.

I was challenged to spend less time on my phone....and Man! It's harder than you think....

but in limiting my access to the ironically-titled,"social world," that is my smart phone, 

I gained over 30 hours of my life back this month. 

My husband would be the first to tell you that I could spare 100+ more hours away from devices, but it's what I have to offer at #Day30, and I'm hoping to improve my time.

I wish I could be prouder of this area of progress, but to be honest, my heart wasn't totally in it...so this one isn't done yet! 

It became evident to me that this one is all about priorities, and I've got to get mine in order...ASAP.

I wish at #Day30 I could say it only took 30 days to break a lifetime of habitual impulses, but any good "recovery program" is going to take longer than 4 weeks. 

Just don't count me out yet!

I'm in it to win it. 

I may have waned from the blog a bit, but I didn't quit.

....I didn't quit!

I have come to find that this journey was more than getting rid of the clutter in my house, it is about gaining self-control, and discipline, and contentment, and especially balance.

So for one last "Goodbye"...

"Goodbye, good inentions. Hello, 'letting go, and letting God'....and remembering 'it's never to late to change!'"