"I'm going to reduce my footprint by 70%." I've been thinking about what my friend told me. To reduce her footprint by 70% she had to go through a lifetime of things and decide what to keep and what to let go of. I look around me at my collection of things and wonder what it would be like to reduce my footprint by 70%.
I remember when I was a young woman collecting mementos. I wanted to have something tangible to remind me of a special event that had taken place. When my children came I wanted to hold onto special toys or clothes to remind me of each stage of their life. I have four children and it didn't take long before the pile of mementos grew to an alarming size.
For the last year I have been going through the things Ma Belle and Papa left behind. Daily I have made decisions about what to keep and what to do with what I keep. Many things that were in their house came from generations past. This has served to remind me that though I use the things I have someday I will leave and the things will stay.
One day a man came to Jesus and said,"'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.'...Yet another said,'I will follow you, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him,'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.'" (Luke 9:57-62)
Lord, help me to set my heart on pilgrimage and not to hold to tightly to the mementos I collect along the way.
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