What's up with all this stuff?

The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.   Hebrews 12:27 The Message

I'm running around the house picking up weekend clutter.  This is my typical Monday ritual.  Stuff, stuff, stuff....everywhere. 

My mind is overwhelmed with stuff.  As I'm preparing for Christmas, my annual crisis of 'what in the world will I buy for children who can't talk or use their hands?' just won't come.  It's 5 days before the big day and I have very little shopping done.  I can't seem to go out and pull more stuff in. 

We're taking the first truck load of our life to North Carolina when we go for Christmas and as I look through things and wonder what goes and what doesn't, I have a first hand---up-close-and-personal look at what I've filled my life with.  So many little things that at the end of the day mean so little.  It's no wonder I feel overwhelmed by it all. 

If I never personally brought a single thing in to this house, I think it would still fill up.  I do bring things in though, and I'm beginning to realize that all of that clutter in my life clutters my heart.  I'm distracted and discouraged.  We've dealt with seizures throughout the weekend for Emily; we're still working on Abby's foot and her congested chest fills my mind. It's really just more stuff.  More clutter to think about and clear up. More problems to address and decisions to make. I haven't thought much at all about why we even celebrate.

I'm allowing all of the stuff in life to pull me from the reason for life; from the gifts of life.  I'm missing it.  The verse from Hebrews is talking about Heaven and people who ignore the warnings to clean their hearts of so much religious "stuff".  If that was written today I wonder if it would include a warning about accumulating or focusing on worldly stuff that doesn't matter.  The things that take our attention. 

Even Emily and Abby.  Their problems are real and can't be ignored.  We need things in our home that can't be ignored.  They can't consume either.  Our hearts and minds need to stand clear and uncluttered.  That's how God is able to speak to us. 

Physically uncluttering my life gives me the time and focus I need to really listen to God and handle what needs to be done with my kids.  I don't want to miss the true gifts of Christmas.  The voice of God; the gift of his son.  The miracle of our own children, whatever package they've come in.  The hope of a future; the promise of eternity. 

The dishes in the sink, the doctors appointments to make, the monster in the dryer who eats single socks shouldn't ever be allowed to take those gifts away, even for a moment.  May the only stuff we truly hold on to be the stuff gifted to us by God.
  
Will you join with me in guarding against the clutter this Christmas season?