The other day, the maintenance guy for our apartment building came by to fix a few issues we'd had (clogged sinks, lights that had burnt out that we couldn't reach, that sorta thing). And as soon as he stepped in the apartment, worries started flying through my head like arrows: Are there are any underwear on the floor? Is the toilet flushed? What did we forget to put away?!
It was only once he left that I did a belated walk through of the apartment, sighing with relief when I saw that we had gotten off this time without any undue embarrassment other than your fair share of cozy, lived-in messiness.
But as I was looking around, I saw our stuff with new eyes. What might someone think that the books stacked on my husband's bedside table are titled "Towards Understanding Islam" and "Holiness," and his Bible is sitting squarely on our kitchen table? That the chalkboard in our kitchen reads "God began doing a good work in you and I am sure he will continue it until Jesus Christ comes again. - Phil. 1:6"? That we have our cake topper from our wedding framed and there's a little handwritten banner that hangs above, proclaiming "Happily Ever After"?
I'm not embarrassed by any of these things, especially not our faith and the prominent role it plays in our life and marriage.
But it all got me thinking about what a person's things communicate about them. What kinds of judgments do you come to about a person from their things? What kinds of insights can you make based on things?
I imagine that when you're traipsing in and out apartments everyday like our friendly maintenance worker, you stop paying very close attention. But it still seems interesting, how close you can get to a person without knowing anything about them except what you see...
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I like this because so many times I can go in my closet and say why is all this stuff still here? I do try at least every month to check my closet out and see if I still want what is there and what end up happening is I get rid of it anyway...it's amazing how we collect so much stuff along the way..If my closet clothes could talk they would say take me out of here...When applying this post to every area of our lives we all could check it and see if we are making a difference or just making a collection of people..have a great day...Desiray http://woman4virtue.blogspot.com
ReplyDelete@ chosenwoman - Yes, I agree completely! I've been cleaning out my closet slowly over the past couple of months and am STILL finding things that I don't need but continue to hold on to. Sigh... Thanks for stopping by and your note!!
ReplyDeleteI thought this in a whole different context. I've thought what if something happened to me or me and my husband... what would our home tell about our lives. That we love 'stuff', that we stayed up reading, we had too many clothes, or the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteI'm always trying through things away. I opened up an online consignment shop of attempting to ride my closet of quality clothing that I just don't care to wear. I hope that if in whatever circumstance I hope that our hearts would shine through.
Also, long commented but might i add. We are friends with our doorman. We had a package come in and he put inside our door last week. When I got home and realized he put it there, I was so worried about what he saw. like the towel on the floor in the bathroom. Had a little check-up on myself and seeing if I was being diligent in my wifely duties.
Ok, please look over my wording and grammar areas (sometimes its a struggle) :)
ReplyDeletethis reminded me of when i worked in portugal and lived in a hotel room for 7months. and as one knows, laundry still gets done! so i strung my little bits on a makeshift line going across the room. on my way out that morning i reported my phone not working in my room. as i came back later in the day, i saw a parked van outside the hotel with a sign reading 'Portugal Telecom'. yippee i thought, my phone will be fixed. oh no i thought a second later....my bras!!!
ReplyDeletenowadays when someone comes to our house. i say welcome to our HOME, we live here full time entitling us to a little mess! God Bless xxx
@ Attilo - What a good motto! That is completely true; we ARE entitled to a little messiness when we have a well-loved and lived-in home. Thanks for the reminder!! I love it :)
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