We started this year with a total re-evaluation of our lives when my husband experienced a small stroke last December.  Where was our focus?  What mattered in our life?  Why were we working so hard?  Why were we living in a house that was costing us too much to maintain and causing us to work so hard?  We took a long, hard look at those things as we made the decision to do a radical makeove.

We’d previously talked about selling our house, but the thought of going through 52 years of a life together was overwhelming.  A body of art work, needed to be packed away – years of personal collections put out of sight – eliminating the clutter of everyday living was necessary to make our home marketable.  I resisted the task.

I’d seen relationships fall apart in the moving process, so we decided to go with a realtor we didn’t know.  We didn’t want to disrupt any of our friendships because of a financial deal.  In the end, I was glad we made that decision.  We’d also be putting extra burden on our children.

The process of selling a house and buying another is one of the most stressful things we do. It’s up there with getting married, having a family, facing death or having an empty nest.  However, those first few months of 2017, God’s “wake up call” convinced me it was inevitable.

We often need to have our world shaken so we can put things back into perspective. God has our life all planned out for us and we can expect to have adventures and excitement along the way. He sometimes molds us like a potter punches his clay to mold us into a thing of beauty.

So we took the plunge, bit the bullet and threw ourselves into the process of decluttering.  God found a sweet little new “old” house for us.  He placed a good family in our old “old” house.  He gave us the energy to do what needed to be done.  He showed me through this process, that the only important thing in this walk on earth is trusting in His plan for our lives and giving Him the reins.

We’ve received the greatest gift ever, when God sent His Son to declutter our souls from sin.  Taking on human flesh, He cleansed our ugliness and re-established our relationship with Him.  What greater gift is there?