Decluttering is a sacrifice

I just put 5 more trash bags in Doug’s truck, all full of clothes to donate. We went through the boy’s room this morning. Right after breakfast, I began by pulling all the clothes out into the living room. We sorted it into piles and then Isaac began helping me go through his clothes. He is six years old and I felt he was old enough to decide what to keep and what to give.

He started with 41 shirts, so I asked him to take it down to 20. We went through the pile about 6 times, each time taking about 3. I tried to explain to him that these clothes were not getting thrown away, but would be used by other boys who really needed clothes. He became more generous, but the closer we got to twenty, the harder it became. He was getting down to the shirts he really liked. The poor guy was getting near tears.

I thought of the movie we had just watched about Abraham. There is a scene where Abraham is explaining to Isaac how to make a sacrifice. We are to give something that we love, our very best. Isaac offered his pet lamb that he carried everywhere.

I asked my Isaac if he felt like Isaac giving up his lamb, and he sobbed, “Yes.” I gave him a big hug while he cried for a minute, and then he handed me the shirts. I was so proud of him. He was very brave, and willing to share something special to him with someone else.

I hope I can be as sacrificial and generous as I continue to declutter our home. We have more than we need and others do not have enough. Our things are just that, things. May we have loose hands and generous hearts.