Till this February!
I've begun the process! Yay! Two drawers down - six to go! One garbage can in the dumpster - so full I strained my back getting it up and in!
I'm trying to be ruthless - without being careless! I'm keeping some stuff! I'll throw it out later.
When I started into the ministry, these file drawers were vital. No computers in 1976. Everything of value was kept in real file folders, in real file drawers. Hard to believe for those born in the 1990's or later!
Now, almost everything is kept in virtual file folders in virtual file drawers! On thumb-drives or in external storage devices. "O Carbonite, O Carbonite, how lovely are thy on-line back-up systems!"
Soon, I'll be coming to files of couples I've worked with through the years - preparing them for marriage. I wonder how many of them are still couples? Then I'll be shredding hundreds of pages of counseling files. Most names I remember; some have already been deleted from my mental files.
Records from my churches. Conversions. Baptisms. Membership classes. Directories. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Then come files of sermons - including funeral messages and wedding ceremonies. Thirty-six years of ministry accumulates lots of files! "Call the refuse company and schedule an extra pick-up day!"
I pitched a lot of old messages, bulletins, school course notes, and cassette tapes a couple of years ago. I really haven't mssed any of it, but I do - at times - wonder if I threw away something important?
Anyone needing a couple of old-school, four-drawer, file cabinets - give me a call in about a week! Anyone needing records of anything I've done for you in the last thirty-six years - so sorry!
I think while I'm relaxing at home tonight, I'll start in on a few of our 'junk drawers'. :-)
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