Re-Evaluate

I thought that transitioning between countries would protect us from over-accumulating.  We are neither unpacked nor re-packed.  We are only here in this space for a time so there has been no need to store up.  But nevermind my best intentions, little hands in my house mean for knicks and knacks, sticks and rocks like boomerangs that find their way back in our home despite my relentless throwing them out. 

There is so much clutter, already.

How does it happen?  The papers creep in first, along with half-finished colouring sheets and unusable markers.  Don’t get me started on mismatched Tupperware or Pokemon cards.  The treasures found on walks, the ‘free’ finds in neighbourhood recycling bins, and on it goes.

It serves to remind me that it’s not so different in my inner life, is it?  I pick up this idea there, and read this book here, I have this conversation there and watch this show and on it goes.  I hear and I see and I consume information at a rapid pace, neglecting to evaluate each input before it comes to stay and take residence in my inner home.

Did I decide these ideas would stick around?  Did I internalize that belief without even evaluating who gave it to me?  What is all this, that is shaping my inner world?

And I wonder why I am anxious and consumed?

To renovate, it always starts with re-evaluating.  Looking at each item that is in the room - can it stay?  Does it have a purpose?  Does it fit with the theme, the orientation of the whole room?  If not, now is the chance to throw it out. 

We have an unequivocal opportunity to reconstruct our lives.  Right now, in this moment, we don’t have to go back to living how we were before this chaotic moment in history. In fact, for whatever it is that lies ahead, NOW is the time to be prepared in our minds.  We have a chance to evaluate our ideas, our orientations, our guiding voices, and re-evaluate if these things should stay or go.  Let’s not go back to how things were.  It’s time for a change.  

Go back, to your lost Love.

I can’t renovate or even re-evaluate with true eyes.  I can’t even see my own inner life clearly.  I need help for this.  I have been meeting with counsellors for months to help me see the thoughts that are not serving me, the half-truths and lies that I sink my soul into and cannot seem to even notice.  I need Truth to cut through me to the bone, to expose what has taken hold of me and is directing me.  I need close friends willing to call me out on the ideas that I am anchoring my life to, that are not from Christ.

What is your relationship with the Truth?  What idea or lie is not from Him and now is the time to un-anchor yourself from it?  What influence do you need to throw out? 

So I’m back to the basics.  Christ and Him alone.  I start with Him and Who He says I am and get back to the simple but difficult truths of Scripture.

First stop for me: Pulling out all that I am reading and who I am listening to and deciding if it ought to be influencing me.  Next: initiating a daily practice of putting my eyes in front of Truth before I turn on my social media of any kind.

What about you? Tell me what input you are re-evaluating.

*For more encouragement: check out this podcast. I found this particularly inspiring and helpful: