The results are in! (Long read, but the last one!)

Hello, friends!  Here I am on Tuesday morning after Easter, exhausted from a tense night of listening for tornadoes or the crack of a tree falling during our first potentially damaging storm, and finally ready to make my last post of my Lenten experiment for simplicity.  I have thought about how I would like to finish this run, and I've made a decision.  There are two pretty big items in my life that have been taking up way too much room, and it's time to pull the trigger and send them away. The first one is a stacking washer/dryer combo that Katie's grandma gave us, and the details of the story are worth sharing. ;-) 

Katie, our dear friend Rachel, and I traveled from Abilene to Lufkin (6 hrs) in my single cab old style Dakota (close quarters) to pick up this washer/dryer from her Grandmommy to use in our rental house to try and save space. Long story short, we make it there and back, work hard to get the other appliances moved out to the shed, work hard to squeeze this monster stacked appliance through our 1930's doorways and hall, and get everything set up. A year later, we have to reverse the whole process, haul the rental house's appliances back in and move this big guy BACK to Lufkin where we now live (can you tell I love my wife A LOT?!?!) BUT, our new house's laundry room doesn't have the vertical space for a stacking washer/dryer, so we're using Katie's folks' spare set of appliances and the extra extra-large stacking thing has been looming in our garage ever since. It's high time to get this thing out of our life. As soon as I can clear the items I'm donating away from around it, I'm going to take some pics and list it on craig's list and the Peddler (for you non-Deep-East-Texans, it's a free local  online classifieds and has high traffic!)  But for now, it looks like this:

 My thought at the moment is to sell it and put the money towards some vehicle repair which is long overdue and so far we have not been able to squeeze the funds out of our budget. I know this is different from the rest of my experiment, either donating items or trashing them, but I do plan on asking a more than reasonable price for it to help someone out with a costly purchase, as it is only a few years old and worth quite a bit. Is that good enough? I'm asking myself this question, by the way, not you...  how extravagantly generous can I be?  This is hard...

And speaking of hard, I've saved the biggest, most sacrificial, most significant possession for last. Wait a minute there, Braz Man, that's only two things...you said five. Well, this is pretty big.

That's right, I'm going to get rid of my truck.  For those of you who don't know, this truck and I go way back.  In the summer between my senior year of college and my last semester of school (4 1/2 yrs, not too shabby!) I purchased this used '92 Dodge Dakota.  And when I say I purchased it, I did just that. With saved pottery and necklace money, I went looking around town with a good professor friend of mine who knows cars, found this guy, walked in, negotiated a price, and wrote a check.  If you've never bought something outright that usually requires a payment plan with money you earned with your muscles, sweat, tears, time, blood, and creativity, I highly recommend you try it sometime.  The time span of my ownership of this truck is approximately one month longer than my dating, engagement, and marriage to Katie. Our first kiss was in this truck. In cleaning it out I found birdseed and bobby pins down in the nooks and crannies from driving to our Honeymoon.  We've slept in this truck, fished and camped out of it, traveled to and from dozens of pottery shows including multiple trips to Oklahoma and even one to Clay City, Indiana.  On many of these trips, Katie and I shared the bench seat with our first dog, a tiny little 90lb lapdog named Huckleberry who ran away from home after we moved to Lufkin last June, but who's hair will always remain a part of our lives (and clothes). I always said I'd probably drive this ol' truck until it completely broke down...

Well, it has.  Back in August I left Lufkin to drive to the Metroplex to pick up a bed we had been given. I made it about 25 miles, when the truck began losing power and I pulled over.  The oil pump had stopped working, cutting off oil flow to the engine, and now it has what is called a galled or spun bearing in one of the pistons. This is not an easy or cheap fix, and I've been told it will probably take a new engine to get her up to snuff.  When you're talking about a vehicle this old with 200K miles on it, even though the rest of the truck is in really pretty good shape, getting it fixed will cost way more than the truck is worth. Now, if someone enjoyed tinkering and could get the parts/engine for it and do the labor themselves, that would be a different story, but that's not describing me. 

When I pull back and look at the big picture, though, it's really not that tragic.  I would have needed to get rid of the truck at some point in the near future anyway, because it has no back seat and I wouldn't have been able to transport Avonlea in it for several years, and switching cars with Katie wouldn't have worked because she cannot drive a standard.  Plus, my dear Nana has deemed herself unable to drive anymore due to her aging mind and has gifted me with Buttercup, a hoss of a Crown Victoria with only 60K and only a slight resemblance to a taxi cab.

So, what to do with an old broke-down pickemup truck? I've already priced some of the auto salvage yards around town, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.  Serendipitously, I just happened to look on craig's list for Dodge Dakotas, and there's a guy looking for an early 90's model for parts to restore one he's working on. Hope that pans out. Don't really want to just give away a truck that needs so many repairs to be functional, but might just give someone needing parts a good deal on it, and will most likely use the money, again, to take care of some things around the house. Katie has asked for an anniversary present at the end of the summer in the form of a painted house exterior, so maybe this is God's way of switching some assets around in our life; sell old truck, buy paint for house, and here's a free car to sweeten the pot.

BTW I'm trying to sell the camper shell as well, and it has this sweet custom fishing rod sling system I rigged up to hold about 10 poles close to the ceiling and out of the way of camping gear, ice chests, dogs, etc...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:  This experiment has been quite the learning experience for me.  When I was first pondering the details of my Lenten regimen, I looked around my house and thought that surely I could get rid of one thing a day and be pretty comfortable. Sure, that would have been 40 things. Easy.  But I didn't want easy.  I wanted to force myself to put my money where my mouth has been at times, saying that life would be so much more enjoyable if lived simply.  So I upped the count to five things a day. Yeah, this will be challenging, maybe even gut wrenching at times! Just extreme enough to make people stop and think, without just going ahead and packing a few bags and living on the streets. Sweet!

Turns out, I could have maybe done ten things a day and still live completely comfortably. Maybe more. I look around and wonder where the big holes should be where 200 items used to live. Turns out they were hiding, not taking up significant amounts of space compared to the whole of the material possessions in my capacity.  Turns out, I'm still a long LONG way from paring my possessions down to 100 measly objects. And it turns out that I'm probably still a long way from trusting God enough to live exactly like Jesus lived and taught, without worry or a pillow to rest my head, giving to everyone who asks of me, giving my coat as well to the man who asks for a shirt, going the extra mile with those who need it.

I still have so much stuff! I probably still have over 200 DVDs alone! And why, with a subscription to Netflix, would I need over 200 DVDs? Because it doesn't hurt anything for me to have over 200 DVDs. And it really doesn't hurt anything for me to have over 200 garments of clothing. And 50 Disc Golf discs. And 400 pots, pans, plates, cups, bowls, utensils,  well over 1000 books, a garage full of fishing equipment, camping equipment, lawn and auto tools, all the gizmos and whatzits for a dozen hobbies I love and don't get to  engage in enough, and literally, countless trinkets and doodads that don't fall into any category other than "Keep it until you find a use for it".  So what if I don't actually NEED all of these things? It's good to have spares. It's good to have extras for when you need em. What if I lose one? What if it breaks? What/who does it really hurt to have all of this stuff?

Me.

"It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick." - Richard Foster

It seems that the more stuff we have, the more we forget to rely on God for anything.  When we have a job that pays money to provide food and shelter, with lots extra to surround ourselves with "creature comforts" and the ability to purchase on a whim (and especially if we are taken in with the lie of credit cards), what do we need God for except at the end of our long privileged lives to save us from an eternity without Him, even though we've done pretty well for ourselves without Him up to this point...

Lord, forgive me of my arrogance. Forgive me for accepting for myself the glories that the talents and skills You've bestowed on me have reaped instead of sending them up to You. Forgive me when I am more thankful for the creations than the Creator. Forgive me for being a poor steward of Your blessings. Hosanna, save me, and let me remember how much saving I need. Amen.

Thanks to all of you who have walked with and encouraged me through this Lenten journey.  I have definitely felt God's tug on my heart and surgery on my eyes, and I hope that my meager efforts here at striving for simplicity have at least been enlightening to someone out there. There very well might be a sequel next year. We'll see. Until then, may God bless you and grant you

Peace.

One more day...just one more.

It has been a long journey to the cross. Today is Good Friday, bittersweet and ironic.  Today is the day we set aside to remember that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was beaten to within an inch of his life and then hung on a cross to finish the job.  And in that instant, when He breathed his last, the Temple curtain was torn, the old system was made obsolete, and we all died by proxy. 

It has been a long experiment. As of tonight, I should have scoured over my entire collection of possessions and removed 190 of them for the garbage can or the thrift store.  In some ways it never got too hard (I have ample possessions to choose from so that nothing was a real sacrifice), but the self-inflicted obligation did become tedious there for a few weeks. I must say that I am glad to be at the end of this season, and I really have no regrets about it at all.   It has changed the way I see the things around me in the house, my office, my car...I hope I can become quicker to loan what I have, to be less anxious at the handling of certain pieces of pottery, to feel more free to make gifts of items to those who need or appreciate them, to be known as a "Master of Giving." 

The five books I have for tonight won't earn me any special titles, but it's what I can do right now.  I am pondering my next and last move tomorrow and wondering if I can live up to the exorbitant generosity my heart is being tugged at to exhibit.  We shall see.

Peace.

What?!?! Before the deadline...?!?!

Wow, look at me, posting before anywhere close to midnight!!  And the proaction (is that a word?
Spellcheck doesn't think so) doesn't stop there, no; I'm posting for the next three days!  Unless you haven't noticed, it's Holy Week and I'm kinda busy.  I will be in five different worship services in the next few days, and I am preparing for a Seder Passover meal with my gang, a youth group-led Sunday morning worship and a senior blessing Sunday later in May, so I'm taking a rare opportunity to get this blog posting done preemptively.

By the way, I'm sitting in my office at work right now, jamming to Acappella's song All Men Will Know on youtube. If you've never heard the song, it's worth a viewing, but make sure you have a tissue ready.  It's actually quite appropriate for Easter Week, and for this year's focus scripture for our Sunday night events called crossTraining; "Die to yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23  This song is a great reminder that "they will know we are Christians by our love" and to get out there and do it! Christ defeated death, so what are we afraid of?!  Being made fun of? Being uncomfortable? Pshaw!

Anyway...

The offering for the next three days is a stack of children's ministry literature that has been sitting on a bookshelf in my office for nearly a year, unused and eventually unseen by me. It's going to find a new home and get to work! There's sixteen things in the picture, but who's counting...?

Making up for lost time

Did you miss me? I missed you!  Katie, Avonlea and I took a couple of days off and headed for Caddo Lake State Park last week, so I missed a few days there.  We had an amazing time, saw many wonderful sights and learned some really interesting trivia about that part of Texas.  Simplicity came to my mind a few different times over our long weekend...

 First of all, how much stuff do three people need for two nights?!?!

But Katie had a good point; we could camp out for two nights or twenty with the same amount of gear, and just replenish our food and water as needed. Good point, Kate! So really, it looks like a lot but it's covering our needs and we're comfortably appreciative. Sounds good.

We have some amazing friends back in Abilene that know how much we love camping,and anticipated that we would need a little bigger tent to house our growing family, so this tent was a baby shower present from them. We broke it in admirably on this trip, because about seven hours from the time this pic was snapped, we would be riding out a pretty decent thunderstorm that would continue to rain until just before dawn. We all managed to keep dry enough to stay warm and cozy. Tent = win!

Waking up to a cool East Texas morning, greeting the sun and wetting a hook. It doesn't get much better or simpler than this!

For more pics from out adventures, check out my Facebook page.

So, that leaves me with Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday to gather up five items per day, and here it all is, unceremoniously piled together:

8 hardback books about fishing, a few more misc. books, a few pieces of pottery, a money box and coin pouch, a extra set of drill bits, and an unopened collectable Star Wars quartet that probably isn't worth $10. Oh well, they're out of my life now.

Oh, by the way, did I mention I caught an alligator?  ;-)

Two for One!!!

Whoops, I missed yesterday. In the last two days I've been to two of my guys' baseball games in the evenings, and last night we worked on laundry until pretty late. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, it's a simple fact of life.

But never fear, for I have two pics that will represent yesterday's items and today's. Nothing special, just another  cubic foot or so of space regained in my life, another ten possessions I won't have to pack and move again, one more small arm full of stuff I won't have any trouble living without.

Some days this experiment feels better than others.

Today was a good day.

Peace.

Two weeks to go...

Let's see, for tonight we are offering a spicy used battery pack to a tent fan (whereabouts unknown), a pair of delectable, sparkly white golf shoes that is bound to fit someone's taste, a savory (read salty) bait cast net, all served on a bed of truck bench seat cover from my poor, obsolete truck. 

What's that, you only see four choices on the menu this evening? Oh, that's because I have taken the small liberty of depositing in the recycling bin a trash sack full of 2- and 3-liter bottles saved from a fishing project of yesteryear, unrealized and bittersweet. Please, enjoy...

Peace.

Self Diagnosis

Yeah, so I'm figuring out some things.  I've learned that I will hold on to lots of things that, in all actuality, I will never, ever use.  Oh, I've had some good ideas about uses for certain things, but I'm finding things that have been stashed away for years collecting dust, which brings me to my next point.  The book Stuff mentions that hoarders get to the point of not even noticing the piles around them, the towers of papers and jumbled assortment of bric-a-brac crowding their dwellings, filling out their "caves" or "nests."  Looking at my stuff through the eyes of one seriously motivated to declutter his life, I am starting to see all the total crap I've been toting around for years and years, packing and moving and storing!

And then I have a thought, probably what this whole examination is about:  how much is pent up in my heart that has sat there, collecting dust for years? Piles of good advice about financial practices, diet, exercise, spending time with my Lord...most of which I disregard as easily as the contents of a junk drawer left unconsidered for a score of years. Maybe these new eyes will transfer over to other aspects of my life, not just my array of possessions. Hmm.

Here's a collection of things from Friday and today that have been sitting around waiting for restorations that will never happen:

An old silverware drawer tray that doesn't fit our new drawers. We've seriously had this since our first apartment. 2002, folks. Filled with two watches with dead batteries, another old sales book, and a bottle cap opener from the American Cancer Society. Nice, I know.

This group is funny:  A meat thermometer made obsolete by my purchase of a digital one, an old bag of hermit crab shells from a trip to the beach forever ago, a really, REALLY old ACE bandage (I've been operating under the assumption that these are expensive medical equipment, and not a $4 fix at CVS as apparently they are. This came out of my dad's drawer in 2001 when I sustained a foot injury) and the two lamest so far...the instructions and spare diodes to a radio electric fence from when we lived in Austin, and a ziplock bag with a single button in it. Yeah, I hear ya, "Way to go, Braz, really cleaning out your life there, bud." But here's something insightful to throw back atcha.  How many teeny, tiny, seemingly insignificant "ziplock bag-buttons" are you carrying around in your soul?  Little wounds, small grudges, a curse word here or there, a spiritually dry year, an old unresolved family conflict...one at a time, they may not seem so bad. It's when you pull out a drawer-full and see them all collected there, and you say, "What in the world am I hanging on to all this junk for?!"  So it's in the small things, like a single button in a ziplock bag that will no longer grace the inside of a drawer, that we take our baby steps towards healing, and more importantly, a new way of thinking. "Renew your minds..."  I think I'm getting it.

Peace.