What's in Your Closet?

The approach of fall always brings the need to clean out my closet. Since I can't fit fall/winter clothes in my closet along with my spring/summer wardrobe, the sweaters and corduroys get packed away under the bed until the cooler months arrive. I don't consider myself a clotheshorse by any means, nevertheless I know I have a lot of things that need to go. That dress in the back of my closet, a gift from some friends years ago (about thirteen to be exact) - will I ever wear that again? Those way-too-big articles and the way-too-small ones too - isn't there someone who could use them now? That wool blazer that I just had to have . . . I haven't worn in about ten years.

I'll stand and deliberate over each item. Should I give it to a friend? Sell on ebay? Or just give to Goodwill. Or should I hang onto it for one more season? No, if I haven't worn it in a year, I most likely will not wear it in the coming year. It must go.

But thinking about cleaning out my closet reminds me of some other business to which I must attend. I feel like I've been on an emotional journey over the past year, as God has taken me into some deep places in my heart and soul. And I realize there are some things that must go. Some attitudes which just don't fit any longer. Some habits and ways of thinking which are proving useless. Some outdated mindsets.

The best part about a clean closet is space. No, I don't mean space in which to fit more things! But space for what I already have to fit well and hang neatly. Things are more likely to be worn when I can see what I have.

And so it is with my heart. Though the process is a admittedly painful at times, I know God is right there with me. As I drag some of these things out of the depths, as I face them with God and he gently suggests I turn them over to him, I am loving the space it affords me to more fully enjoy the good things God has placed in my life.

So . . . what's in your closet?