A Right Time for Everything

by Beth Hall

Who doesn’t love to de-clutter? One of the benefits of moving is the fact that you are forced to part with all of the extra stuff in your life. All the belongings you haven’t looked at in the 8 years you’ve lived at your address. All the clothes you haven’t worn and all the toys your kids no longer play with. Moving always forces me to lighten my load.

When we were moving from Iowa, after 8 years of living there, I joked with a friend that I was on a first name basis with the guy at the local Goodwill store.

Purging, de-cluttering, lightening your load. No matter how you say it, it feels good. I am always amazed, though, after a dozen trips to the Goodwill, while unpacking in our new home, I think, “Why did I bring that?” Thus begins my new Goodwill pile. When we moved to Louisiana, just 18 months after our Iowa to Connecticut move, I couldn’t believe all the stuff I found to get rid of. Where does it all come from?

Moving not only forces me to get rid of my physical clutter. It also forces me to get rid of all the activities that clutter up my time and calendar.

Upon pulling out of your old driveway, you realize that your kids are no longer in the band, on the basketball team, or selling popcorn for Troop 62. All that is familiar comes to a screeching halt. Your calendar is clear. The whole family is home for dinner.

Enjoy it because it won’t last!

All the daily clutter will be in full swing before long. You’ll be driving to tennis and baseball, juggling wrapping paper sales and music lessons. Meanwhile, enjoy this brief season of rest. Be still. Your rest may only last two weeks. Cherish those two weeks of having the family around the dinner table with no hurry to rush out the door to the next activity. The rest is only for a season. Soon you will be bustling with activities and friends.

While you are in the resting phase of your move, take a moment and read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. There is a time for everything. This is your time to have a clean calendar, rest, and – of course – unpack!

For everything there is a season,
  a time for every activity under heaven.
² A time to be born and a time to die.
  A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
  A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
  A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
  A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
  A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
  A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
  A time for war and a time for peace.