On New Year’s Day, I decided it was time to get my life in order.  I had been putting this off long enough so, it was time I took a deep breath, looked it straight in the eye and announced the time had come.  Ever so slowly, I pulled my junk drawer out from our dresser.   It has probably been 10-15 years since I have diligently faced sorting through the junk and so I wasn’t even sure what was in there anymore – shoving stuff in, but never taking things out.   I took it and gently placed it on the bed and began the arduous task.   The main thing I came across were greeting cards of various kinds.    I find it hard to throw them away right after I get them, so I keep them.   It turned out to be a fun activity, throwing away 75% of them and  keeping those from my children or Julie or my parents.  (one of the cards from my mom had a $5 bill in it, a gift she gave to each of her 45+ children and grandchildren.  I quietly left it resting in its place in the card and put the card in the save pile with the others.)    I also came across countless game boy games and apparatuses.  I found a small box, placed it all in there, and hauled it to the basement.   Throwing out this junk will take time.   Then, there were all the little folders I got over the years, from the funeral’s of various people.   It was good to be reminded of these people and my relationship with them.   There was, of course much other junk to sort through, like my uncle Rhine’s social security card issued in 1937.

When it was all over, I put rubber bands around the cards and memory cards and put them to rest in the junk drawer for another ten years.   Putting my life in order turned out to be a gift from God when I was willing to look for the treasure that was stored among all the junk.   I am sure there is other junk in there I should have thrown, but for now my life has been enriched by it all.  

Till next year…h  

P.S.  I chose to not torture you with stories about our trip to San Diego, which went fine, at least till another time.  Happy New Year!

You can reach Pastor Howard at: hhintzman@wisconsinumc.org.

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