Cleaning the Clutter

Alright now on to life....I plan on telling you about so many different things. Spiritual insights, fashion and beauty finds, books I am reading and music I like, etc... 

So this morning as I was doing my devotions, and just so you know it is my goal to read throughout the entire Bible in the year 2010, I had two interesting thoughts I wanted to share with you:

(1) The Bible is really chalk full of very dysfunctional families. has any one else noticed this? I am humored by how in our society "good Christian families" are put, or even put themselves, on a pedestal. I think it is often a pride issue that keeps us "towing the line" not the relationship that we claim to have with the Creator. I know I have been guilty of this on occasion. I do or do not do something not because its right or wrong but because its something that i am expected to do or refrain from doing. I grew up as a pastors kid and that came with its own set of rules, these were not necessarily told to me by my parents, rather they were expectations of how I should act from other kids and adults in my life. Sometimes when I look back I realize that those times when I was reprimanded for something I had done wrong, like texting during Church services,  I felt remorse because people expected more from me, I wasn't perfect and that bothered me. It wasn't that I was disrespecting the pastor and not listening to what God had put in his mouth to share with me. If you are a Christian reading this lets begin to notice pride and how it can slip its self-righteous finger into our daily lives. Now that I got off on that little tangent....though the Bible has these stories of people who really screwed things up isn't it amazing to see how God still used them. We do not have to be perfect, just willing to trust in him and ask for his forgiveness when we show our human nature.

(2) I am reading a study by Beth Moore, Paul: 90 Days on his Journey of Faith. And she made a terrific point of talking about how Christians must never forget how to search the scriptures. There have been many entire congregations led astray by a convincing speaker and people who never checked what they said against the Bible. This is how we grow and become independent in our faith. By reading and learning for myself who God is, so when others might say things that I have found go against his character i am not led astray and can compassionately share my faith.

Ok so that is my Spiritual thoughts for the day. 

Each January I do a sort of "Spring Cleaning" it is a time where I go through my closet, clothes, storage tubs, and drawers to clear the clutter out of my life. This year is no exception, and though I am getting a late start my hope is to finish it all up before I head to the Big Apple next month. Oh, that's right I haven't shared with you yet but I am moving to NYC for a temporary position with my company. I am an Interior Specialist with a furniture company and I conduct in home consultations and work with clients to create unique homes they love to live in! So with the deadline quickly approaching I am trying to spend about 15 minutes each evening before I go to bed working through the mess. Yesterday alone I pulled out two trash bags worth of clutter that is going to the dumpster today. Organizing your life may seam like a daunting task but you can set little goals for yourself, like today I am going to clean out my sock drawer and anything that has a hole or no match it outta here!! And next thing you know...poof... your drawers are done. My next area to tackle is the cabinets under the sink in the bathroom. I don't know how I get all these things in there but I tell you Bath and Body Works can really kill you with the size of their lotion bottles. I have over half a dozen partially used lotion bottles down there. From now on I am just going to get the travel sized bottles of scented lotions. It really amount I typically will use before a new scent catches my nose, so why not save some money and some space and still indulge in the new fragrance? Sometimes the lotion can actually go bad so I found this little tips sheet from INSTYLE about when to throw away cosmetics and I wanted to share that with you!

• -Nail Polish 
• 1 year- (The chemical will begin to break down and the color will not go on smoothly)
• Mascara
• 3 months- (Since your eyelashes protect your eyes from dirt, dust, and bacteria imagine what is all over your mascara brush?!)
• Face creams and Lotions
• 1 year (especially if it is in a jar where your fingers go, its the bacteria bit all over again)
• Fragrance
• 2 years ( With each spritz you allow a small amount of air into the bottle over long periods of time this will dilute the fragrance, and honestly if you haven't used up a fragrance in two years then its not your go to so move on and try something else)