#Day12: Are we holding onto someone else's answer to prayer?

I remember in high-school, a youth leader had told me the story about how her husband had been laid off from work, and they were doing everything they could to just get by. 

Every day she sent her kids to school with a bagged lunch, including a thermos of water. When her son had asked her to please send some Koolaid in their lunch instead of water for just one day, she had to tell him that right now the best she could do was water. She broke down later as she prayed to God asking if He would somehow provide her son's one request, however frivolous it seemed. 

That very same day, a woman showed up on her front porch with a bag of groceries, and of course, sitting on top was a container of Koolaid!

I have recalled this story so many times over the years.

Sometimes when God asks me to do something and I fear that it won't be received well, I  remember how Koolaid was the answer to one friend's prayer. Whether it fills a need or just reminds someone that God hasn't forgotten them, I pray that I won't hold back what could bless someone else in a way I could never even imagine. 

So in honor of that anonymous woman who delivered that single bag of groceries to a desperate mama, I clean out my pantry as I continue on in #theminimalistproject for #noClutterNovember's #day12.

November 12th, my 12 things:

(12 UNEXPIRED, shelf-stable foods)

I have been meaning to go through my cabinets to donate brown rice and tuna because it's gross the stuff that we aren't appreciating enough. So rather than holding onto it and keeping it until it expires and we have to throw it away "in case we need it," I decided it was time to give from our bounty.

{And can we please take this time to talk about the local food pantries who get donations of canned goods that are expired?! 

I was talking to one volunteer who said a good portion of donations are long past their expiration, so workers have to go through each and every item for quality assurance. 

Please people, let's check the labels. 

How about we don't wait until things are expired and have sat unused in our cabinets for 2 or more years before being willing to part with them.}

Continuing on,..


I didn't intend on this month being so profound for me.
I merely expected to get rid of a bunch of things, comply with my friend's request to post pics, and move on.
In reality, these past 12 days, I have actually been forced to unpack not only clutter, but the underlying emotions, and rationales, and fears that are behind my collecting and saving of things.

It's been interesting to say the least. But what has been most surprising is that when I unwrap all the baggage underneath, I find that what I am trying to resolve with "stuff," can never be completely satisfied with any earthly item. Those empty places in my heart can be "filled" for a moment, but no one or 2 or 10 things can quench that deep longing in my heart that only Jesus can fill.
He satisfies. He protects. He provides. He sees. He cares.

...and in the end, when I let myself be satisfied by God and am able to release the rest, I know with more certainty than ever that it is truly "more blessed to give than receive."


So, "Goodbye, extra foods that we take for granted. I'm sending you out. Do your work of being the something that someone else out there is praying for."

*What do you have that you don't need that could be a blessing to someone else??