Matches and lighter fluid in hand, I charged toward my bedroom like a bluefaced Mel Gibson in “Braveheart” yelling “They can take our lives, but they will never take our freedom!!!”
At least,that’s how I wanted to feel.
If you’re just joining us – we’re in the middle of a closet purging battle. Dawn from the Minimal Mom on YouTube told me that I would have more peace if I got rid of all the “jerks” in my clos (aka, things that don’t fit my today body).
But those closet jerks are tricky. They executed a full-on mental siege that made it feel impossible to even get to the door, much less storm the castle gates. “What if you regret purging something?” “What if you get rid of all of your ‘options’?” “What if you have nothing to wear – ever again?”
“What if your body changes again and you actually fit into those things you throw out?” “You haven’t lost your baby weight yet? What’s wrong with you?” “You can’t throw that out, it still has tags on it, which makes you a loser, a bad wife, a money waster, and a joke that you actually thought you could pull that off.”
I wanted to be the blue faced Mel, but instead I just laid down in the hallway outside my bedroom to cry about the loser, bad wife, money waster joke that I was. Maybe the throw rug could soak up my tears.
At least… that’s how I was tempted to feel.
Our brains are really good at extremes. One minute we feel like we have to burn it to the ground to see any progress, and the next minute, we’re so scared to accidentally throw out something we “need” that we get paralyzed to move anywhere.
Progress doesn’t come easily. Those jerks make sure of that.
But what is peace worth? What if our closets were places of peace? Sometimes the enemy of our soul uses the simplest things to derail us… like a sweater that still has the tags on it. Am I really not strong enough to stand up against a sweater? Truth is, I’m not.
They say our outward environment is a reflection of our internal state. That means I have some internal things that I need to surrender to Jesus in order to actually silence the jerks. Where is my brain? Who am I listening to? Who does Jesus say that I am? Nothing like those jerks say.
With Dawn in my ears, (she has a podcast and a YouTube channel) I grabbed my trash bag and my donation box. I wrestled the jerks with each item of clothing pulled from my drawer. We’re talking about things I haven’t seen in a year… much less have worn. Suddenly when you lay your eyes on it, you think of all the “wonderful” uses for it. This is absurd. We have to be aware of these jerks and their conniving ways.
Truthfully, this project was way too big and I am way too weak to tackle it in one day. As Dawn would say, you have to build up your decluttering muscle.
I decided to break it up into sessions.
My first session, I just wanted to get all the things out that I actually didn’t like. (You bet the jerks still found reasons for me to believe that I should keep those items.) If you’re ever interested in taking this journey to freedom with me, don’t listen to the jerks! This session is getting rid of the things you know you actually don’t like.
In my second session, I went a little deeper. It helped me to try on the item and objectively rate it from one to 10. If it isn’t an eight – she’s gone. No questions.
In my third session, I asked the question, “What could I live without?” Even if something scored above an eight, could I live without it or would I buy it again right away if I purged it? The reality is, we can live without a lot.
As my closet got thinner, I actually felt lighter. Suddenly putting my clothes away became a breeze because the drawers aren’t stuffed to the brim. Suddenly the jerks weren’t so loud, because they were all sitting in donation boxes in the other room. Did they still try to scream at me? You bet… but I was resolute.
It’s been several months now and I will tell you: I purged 100 items (yes, I counted) and I don’t miss any of them. That’s both embarrassing and empowering to share. What in the world was I doing with 100 jerks in my closet? Why listen to the enemy of your soul?
Meet your farmer – Liz Gerdes. She and her husband run a farm-to-table raw milk dairy and Airbnb in Caledonia. If you’re looking for raw milk “fresh off the farm,” visit www.gerdesfreshfarm.com or just email Liz at elisabeth.gerdes@gmail.com. First time visitors – mention this article and get a free half gallon of milk!’
The Best Strawberry Shortcake
2 cups flour, half white and half whole wheat
⅓ cup cold butter, (cut into the flour with a pastry blender)
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup raw milk
Stir/knead 20 mixture times.
Spoon shortcakes onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake at 450º for 10 minutes. (Makes 6 shortcakes)
Important: I didn’t know until I married Jonathan that the “correct” way to enjoy shortcake was with smashed strawberries (with a little sugar added) and vanilla ice cream on top. As Jonathan would say, if it’s not juicy, we made it wrong. Make sure you enjoy them with lots of juicy strawberries.
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe and you need it!
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