I sat looking out my window as it rained, watching as the river filled up throughout the day. The rain was non stop, sometimes a light drizzle and other times a steady downpour. The waters rose as the day continued. There was rain in the forecast for everyday this week. As I left for the day, the evidence of all the rainfall was everywhere around me. Roads were closed due to water rushing over them, bus routes were cancelled, and schools were being delayed for the next day. The rain had fallen for days and was beginning to flood in low areas.
Later that evening, we drove to church and as we drove by the same river I had stared at for much of the day, I noticed the water was already back to it’s normal levels, maybe even a little lower than normal. I thought to myself, “that was fast”, and I knew the city had opened the gates to let water out in preparation for more rain to come. As I thought about how quickly the city got rid of the fallen rain, I thought to myself, they have no idea if were gonna get more or not. Or even how much more. And the water now seemed even lower than it normally would be. Why? Why did they get rid of so much of the water? Well, they’re expecting more – duh right? They were getting rid of rain that had literally just poured down today to get ready for rain that may come tomorrow (or may not if you know West Texas weather). Even knowing the uncertainty of the rain in the forecast, they still chose to get rid of what had fallen that day, and even a little more.
As these thoughts tumbled through my mind, I was reminded of something my mentor has trained on many times “Get rid of to make room for”. In that moment, it occurred to me, this is exactly what the city was doing.
Goodness. This was a huge moment for me. You see, I’ve been working to declutter and organize my home. Physically, we have an abundance of stuff that, if I’m honest, causes clutter and disorder in my home. It creates more work in cleaning that I just don’t want to spend my time doing and let’s be real, clutter makes almost anyone a little crankier than they want to be. Truth be told, most of it is no longer necessary to even have. Over the last few months, I’ve spent time cleaning out old clothes, shoes, makeup, papers – you name it. It makes sense right? We all do this periodically. But what about some of the other areas of our lives? Shouldn’t we do the same there?
Then I started thinking about how this relates to areas in my life that I don’t even realize I keep filled to the brim. Areas like, my time, my thoughts, even my relationships. I started realizing on a new level how “full” I stay; never evaluating any of it to see what needs to be emptied out so I can make room for new. I fill my time with activity that seems good and well just so I’m not idle. Then, as a result, sometimes I lack time for rest or sometimes even spare moments to give to something/someone I truly love. I often stay SOOO full that if one more thing comes along, it’s going to be a flood and then I’m forced to let something out, and often more than I want to let out. I’ve let thoughts occupy my mind without truly evaluating what needs to be there and what doesn’t. Then when new thoughts and beliefs need to be developed, there’s no room for them, resulting an unwinding that takes so much more time and effort simply because I didn’t pay attention to what was there before.
I want my life to be FULL. I’m even ok with it flooding from time to time – as long as when I have overflow, it adds value to others. When I have to open the gates to let the “rain” out because more is coming, I want it to be in a way that adds value to and fills up those around me, not in a way that causes flooding and devastation. I want to know when to let more “water” out because I’m expecting more “rain” to come my way, even if that means keeping lower water levels than normal for a season.
As I thought through all of these things, I realized there was a spiritual and mental side to “getting rid of to make room for” that I haven’t fully considered. One I will be exploring more in the coming days and weeks.
In your life, what are some ways you have practiced or need to practice “get rid of to make room for”?
A Girl and Her God 