2nd post

A program offered at Saint John the Evangelist Church entitled “Called and Gifted” encourages participants to undertake an experiment to “test” a charism which God may have given them.   As my facilitator and I discerned the gift I seem to have received in writing, the option of creating a blog was suggested.

Deciding what to write about seemed like a daunting task. The course of my life’s journey offers an abundance of topics from which to choose.   However,  for the last year or so, I have been hearing God calling me to “clean my house”.   This “cleaning” is not just the typical vacuuming, scrubbing, dusting sort of cleaning, but the sorting through years of life’s accumulations to decide what are the “things” I want to continue to have in my home.

By nature, I am a “keeper of memories” and have an innate appreciation for history.   I am inspired by items surrounding me, yet long for an order and organization of material possessions.  If someone has given me a gift, I have a tendency to want to keep it.   Not because I think they will stop by and look for their gift, but because looking at the item reminds me of them and the special relationship we share.  Figuring out which of these items to keep might be difficult.  Frankly, it is not guilt which tugs at my heart when making a decision to keep, store, display, or pass on objects in my house, but the fact that inspiration comes to me as I live in their midst.  

On the other hand, I can readily admit that I have many items which were once useful in my state of life and could now assist others.  I want to pass these items on.   An example is materials I have collected in the adventure of educating my children.   I have home educated (using many different curriculums and ideologies) my eight children for twelve years each.    A goal of mine was to make our home a center for learning as Montessori education does.   The idea of providing aides to my children so that they could grow in a natural curiosity for life-long learning was an important aspect of my focus.   Having my children invest in the educational process was my predominant thought.   An educational adventure which emphasized “hands-on learning, self-paced exploration, and real-world skills” became my goal.

The span of educating my children stretched over a period of thirty years with an accumulation of teaching materials for twelve levels plus manipulatives and games to help them learn.  Of course, each child possessed unique learning styles, so different methods and resources were necessary.  Thousands of dollars were invested in my children’s education, so just clearing these items out of my house is an enormous physical as well as psychological task.

Yet this is my present “Cleaning My House” goal.  As I searched for places to sell or donate my teaching supplies, an eventual answer came.  I believe God has finally revealed to me a place where I feel positive about taking the educational items I have collected over the years.  A public library in my area has a “homeschool section” where patrons can check out donated educational materials.   I am in the process of sorting my books and other educational materials to donate there.

Keeping reference books for my personal use and children’s books for my grandchildren, challenges my decision process each day.   Many of my old, vintage, antique, and even rare books hold special places in my heart, so bookshelf space will be assigned to them.   However, others may benefit from the Early Readers, Language Arts, Health, Mathematic or Arithmetic, History, and Science books in my home, so it is time for me to pass them on.

Writing about making this step may be simpler than actually bringing books out of boxes and off of shelves.   Therefore, sharing in this blog offers an opportunity to describe the discoveries I make on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels as well as bring a mindful accountability into my life.  I know the pursuit of my vision of “Cleaning My House” will be more difficult and time consuming than I presently realize and I am delighted to be sharing this particular journey with you.