As I make progress on my house decluttering, I am finding that I have let others make the decisions for me on what I have brought into the house. Instead of seeking and using wise counsel, especially from the Bible, I have fallen for others on social media and advertisements telling me what I need and how to use it.
This doesn’t take into account how I live my life… or how you live your life. The influencers are not in your home living with you. And the influencers are usually copying other influencers while trying to one up them to get more views and thus more income for themselves. They don’t care if you waste your money on things that are not going to work for you.
But we should care… about ourselves and what our true needs are for living out a peaceful life. The Bible tells us to “seek peace and pursue it”— in Psalm 34:14. Don’t clutter your life with things that don’t work for you.
Now wise counsel, especially Biblical counsel, is a different matter. And educating ourselves on how to make wise decisions through studying the Bible, and practicing, instead of being indecisive and letting things fester at the status quo — can only make life better.
Case in point…
I was decluttering a kitchen cabinet on a day when my daughter was present. I was discussing with her the fact that I had several Rubbermaid and Tupperware pitchers for making tea, a Brita water filter pitcher that I never use (Which I was hanging onto in case there was an apocalypse and I needed to filter my water. My daughter found this idea entertaining.😉), and several recycled glass bottles for storing extra beverages in the refrigerator. The recycled bottles were there, because several YouTubers had said they save money by using them, and it saves the landfills. (There is actually a recycling center near us for glass, metal, ect. So it doesn’t even go to the landfills.)
After brainstorming with my daughter on what I needed to serve my family at holiday get togethers , I found I only needed one gallon pitcher for sweet tea and one half gallon pitcher for unsweet tea. Everything else could go. The plastic rubbermaid pitchers were worn, stained, and I always felt unsafe pouring boiling water into the plastic when some chemical might leach out and contaminate the tea.
The clutter of pitchers
The pitchers I actually need. My husband uses the red thermos for water when he is working outside.
I bought glass pitchers from Amazon that can be used with boiling water to replace the plastic pitchers. This one holds one gallon.
Before decluttering
After decluttering
I have extra canning jars with BPA free plastic lids on the second shelf for snack and food storage. Other leftover storage is on the first shelf in easy reach. Even where I store these becomes a decision to make, on what works for me, and not copy what others have done on YouTube. (Maybe I should stop watching so much YouTube… hummm…)
Since many of my lids for my leftovers have cracked and had to be thrown away, I have used a YouTube idea to store snacks and leftovers in canning jars now. This tip actually does work for me. My refrigerator is always packed and it is hard to get leftovers in it, but the canning jars fit better… if the leftovers will fit in them. I also store my sourdough starter in a canning jar in the refrigerator.
Remember— this is what works for me. It may not work for you. Every day we make decisions about something. They range from very small decisions, to colossal decisions that really make our lives turn completely around. Learning to be true to yourself and what works for you can be helpful, but also, consult, listen to wise advise, study your Bible, then practice making your own decisions with God’s wisdom and help. The goal is to make your life as peaceful as you can get it.
“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)