I am in the process of packing up my house to move. Two things have stood out to me through this process. Number one: I have accumulated A LOT of STUFF within the past two+ years. Number two: I HAVE TO get rid of some things to make this move as smooth as possible. With that said, let us begin…
About two years ago I moved from a tiny (teeny tiny) one bedroom apartment into a two bedroom townhouse. My move then was so easy because I had more house than stuff to put in the house, so all it took was a run of a few bags and a couple of boxes, and two loads in the trailer (attached to the hitch on the back of my cousin’s truck) and I was DONE! Well, in the time since I’ve settled in, I have accumulated so much more. I’ve bought furniture, a washer and dryer, doooooozens of pairs of shoes, clothes, household items, and the list goes on. It wasn’t until I began filling up boxes for this move that I noticed all that I had. I didn’t take inventory while I was living with all of this “stuff” daily with it carefully in it’s place. Now I know.
Through this process, I began to evaluate more than the items that I was packing into a box. Though my physical junk was easy to see and handle, it was the invisible weights that required more work. Comparing my life today to how it was two or three years ago, I could see that just like the shoes and furniture I had purchased, I had loaded so much more onto my plate. I noticed that I was carrying extra baggage. I had taken on stresses and worries on everything from work to bills. I had began carrying the weight of unbalanced friendships. I was even carrying unnecessary fear. Crazy thing is while all of these things were falling on my shoulder, I didn’t take much notice. It wasn’t until I was ready to move to the next level, task, season that I noticed all of this “extra” on me. (If you haven’t noticed, I’m no longer talking about the move from one house to another.) This is where I had to apply my epiphany about my physical accumulation of junk to my invisible weights…I had to get rid of some things to make the move as smooth as possible.
“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Hebrews 12:1 [New Living Translation]
THE MORAL OF THE STORY:
Not everything, everyone, or every way of thinking can transition with you to the next phase of your life. Sometimes in the grand scheme of life, we forget the concept of things being in our lives for seasons. It is possible that what worked in one season won’t work in another. Furthermore, even some of the people who were a perfect fit for your life in the past may not be in the future. It is very important that you lay aside all of the weight that slows you down…ALL OF THE WEIGHT. That includes stress, worry, and anything else that you can classify as a weight. If you are in an unbalanced friendship/relationship where you do all of the work, listening, praying, and carrying, that is weight. (Just as an example). In this season you will have to recognize all that you are carrying, make an honest decision if it NEEDS to be in your life or not, and begin the cleaning process. Don’t let the extra weight, baggage, and junk keep you from smoothly moving into your new season.
Christen Rouson 
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