Life is funny. Life is hard. It can be full of laughter and tears all at the same time. I am not sure why this is still something that surprises me since this grief journey has been daily full of joy and sorrow, but alas it takes me off guard every time! 

Hunker down folks it is story time! In early 2021, Jason and I decided to downsize in hopes of stockpiling cash to eventually build our dream home. You know the home I am talking about…the one you want your grandbabies to come visit, swim, run, play, sleep and make all the memories in! That was our dream, our goal and something we were actively planning for when he got sick. As a part of the plan we knew we had to rent a storage unit so we started the search and found a few we liked that were close to where we would be living. 

Then May hit and life changed with one visit to urgent care. From that day forward nothing I knew would be the same. I started to pack for moving because Jason was not in a position to help and eventually he was in the hospital. While packing I was also sorting what gets moved and what gets stored. At the time we were living in a 2200 square foot house and moving into a 2 bedroom apartment that was about 1000 square feet. It was a challenge and yet I was able to easily tap into my love of organization!

Fast forward almost 3 years and my daughter and I were tasked with downsizing and moving our items from where we stashed them to a place of my choosing. It is smaller and more budget friendly and closer to where I live now so I can access it when I need something. But man, I was not ready for this task. I am not sure why I procrastinated for as long as I did. Maybe I didn’t really want to face all the things in those boxes, or maybe I didn’t want to see something that would trigger a memory or an emotion among all of the dust bunnies. But I faced the boxes and sure enough I found things I had never seen before, or at least in about 3 years and yes, the emotions were triggered as well!

One item stopped me in my tracks. It was a journal with our names and wedding date engraved on the front. Inside the order of service and what was to be said during our wedding ceremony was lovingly printed, cut and glued to the pages. I knew about this, yet when flipping through the extra pages I came across something I never knew was there, or if I did, I had forgotten about it after almost 27 years. But there I stood in a storage unit, illuminated with 2 phone lights and just froze. I immediately was brought to tears by the handwritten words of Jason’s father. You see, Jason and I both were kids of parents in the ministry, so naturally our ceremony was performed by primarily his father, but my dad spoke a blessing over us as well. It was one of the most special parts of the event and I have a beautiful photo to remind me of the family affair!  

I glanced over the page and quickly closed the book and put it to the side for safe keeping so I could read it later when I had the space to really process all the emotions of the moment and kept moving boxes. Then we hit the photo box. You know the one…it has all the photo albums, developed film, and all the loose pictures of random things you once thought were meaningful and we yet again got sidetracked. Eventually we finished the bulk of the moving but not before I had a few thoughts on storage. 

So here you go!

1. What once was meaningful, really now is clutter and some of what was once clutter is now extremely meaningful!
2. There are certain boxes and items I was completely fine walking away from and others that I will cherish always.
3. Storage can be a time capsule and at times it felt like a doorway to a completely different lifetime.
4. Do the work of sorting through things so your children do not have to do that for you one day. But if you can’t do it on your own, take them with you. Some things mean more to them than to you and vice versa!
5. If you take your kids with you and they find something, allow them to take it to their home. It then is out of your storage area and they can enjoy the memories it evokes when they look at it daily or it can also become part of their storage. That is a win-win!
6. Sort, trash, give away in stages. I have completed round 1 but one day I want to declutter to the point where I no longer have to rent a storage unit. 
7. Once you decide what goes into each pile do not change your mind! 
8. Sometimes moving forward requires you to reflect and remember before taking a step. This is ok and necessary, but be careful not to get stuck. Climb out of those piles and rejoin your daily life!

Friend, what lessons have you learned from the “storage” areas in your life? What do you have to share with your people about the relics in those boxes and bins? What pictures do you need to go through and talk about? Finally, what do you need to sort through, throw away and keep as meaningful treasures for generations to come?

Closing thought: Do not let your life story only live on through your things. Sow the gifts and talents your Heavenly Father has given you into those in your life so your legacy and your story can live on for generations to come. Through this, God gets the glory every time your name is mentioned and your story is told.