As I’ve been getting ready for the kids to come (today! yippee!), I’ve found myself doing a little purging. I’ve cleaned out the guest closets, the grandkid room closet, and, even though it wasn’t my intention, I ended up cleaning out my pantry yesterday.

You know how sometimes you just walk into, or stand in front of, a closet to do a normal everyday thing, and as you gaze into it you think to yourself…

I can’t stand this another minute. I’ve hit my limit. Today’s the day.

Well, that’s what happened to me.

So, I got some trash bags and started tossing. I started reading expiration dates and tossing partial containers of cocoa powder and quarter-filled bags of brown sugar. Then it hit me: I was recognizing some canned goods from our last house. And the one before that. And the one before that. In fact, we’ve lived in four different places since we moved back to Texas, and I actually found a couple of things that I know were in my pantry in Florida!

I feel it’s important to say that I am not a hoarder, although that last paragraph is pretty condemning. I’m actually pretty good at throwing things out, and with each move, I purge so I don’t have to move a lot of junk. So I had to wonder as I filled bag after bag, why I had moved these particular things four times.

One of the reasons is because canned goods seem like they should enjoy a long shelf life, and most do. They seem like something you should have a lot of because you just might find yourself making a recipe calling for cream of chicken soup, or whole kernel corn, and you want to be at the ready. But the main reason I think I, at least, don’t go through them regularly is because I get so used to seeing them all together on the shelf, it’s kind of like they’re just part of the pantry.

Yesterday, I also had a Facebook conversation with a friend. She was talking about doing some dream-chasing, and I’ve always admired her for her zeal for living and her whole-hearted embrace of the unknown. I mentioned to her that I struggle with fear in any area that begs me to step out into an unknown where God is calling me. I also told her that I was so tired of it, thinking that maybe, as I stare down turning 50, it’s time to let that go. It would be hard, though, because I’ve been carrying it around so long that it seems to just be a part of me.

With sage wisdom, my friend told me that 50, for her, was very freeing, allowing her to clean house and chase some long-time dreams that had been buried by all the clutter. She was able to let her old store of the negative go, fully embracing for the first time that because HE IS…SHE WILL. Maybe I could adopt that philosophy, too, she said.

She’s right. Maybe I could.

Because you know what?

I can’t stand this another minute. I’ve hit my limit. Today’s the day.

I’m purging the closets of my heart, and throwing out my old go-tos for something much better. I’m after freedom from clutter that’s holding me back and the ultimate adventure of embracing the unknown, and because HE IS…I WILL.

“But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” Ephesians 4:22-24 MSG

“I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 MSG

“Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” Galatians 5:1 MSG

“For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!” Deuteronomy 20:4 NLT