Spring has Sprung

WOW! It is been six weeks since I last posted on Retirement Day and a lot has happened. I took a month off in vacation mode just to relax. I also learned some very important lessons during this time.

1. I do not need to shop on a Saturday
2. I do not need to spend all day Saturday working on the yard.
3. Naps are cool

We are making progress on getting rid of stuff. That is a big thing because we have our share of stuff. Just so you know I define "stuff" as anything not essential.  Like most people, we have stuff.  A person once told me that stuff has intrinsic value as long as there is a place to store it. I emptied a filing cabinet full of stuff. What kind of stuff? Tax returns and pay vouchers going back to 1967; clippings from woodworking magazines about projects I was planning on building; and more stuff that seemed to expand to fill space in the filing cabinet drawers.  This filing cabinet is in the garage, needless to say, I've been feeding critters for a few years now. Most of the stuff went into the recycle container, some is being held for confidential trash disposal (aka summer time bonfire).

Every now and then I feel overwhelmed by the task of purging stuff and loose site of objective. Today, I was able to refocus due to a devotional email from John Eldridge titled "There Comes a Time When You Have to Leave All That Is Familiar".  The excerpt from the book "Wild At Heart" describes how God called Abram out from Ur to a land he has never seen, to the frontier. Along the way, Abram gets a new name. This is a clear picture of  the adventure God is preparing for us.

My DW's sister and brother-in-law are also in the cycle of purging stuff.  They have 15 days to completely move from their house to their RV. Their story is posted at their blog. This is her take on "stuff".

The decisions we are making now will impact the rest of our lives. We have chosen to minimize the number of 'things' we have in order to maximize the number of experiences we can have. When making a decision like that, there are always trade-offs. We believe the material things we are getting rid of now will be replaced with memories that will fill our hearts and our days.

So we continue purging stuff. It will be easier once I get a truck because I fill the garbage can faster than the city empties it. I look forward to the adventure God has planned for us.