WE'RE DOING OUR KIDS A HUGE FAVOR!

We have accumulated so much stuff over our nearly thirty-nine years of marriage!  I recently came across a box that I brought to our marriage in the beginning, have moved it through every transition without ever looking inside!  I sorted it last week.  It held all twelve report cards from my school days along with all of my junior high and high school notebooks.  I was impressed with the quality of education I received from the New Brighton school system! 

We are trying to sort a little every day to make the job easier.  I have personally filled the dumpster at least twice!  The hardest things to part with are things that belonged to my parents!  Next would be things from my own childhood.  Then, of course, things that have sentimental value! 

I also struggle with things that have practical value.  What about those old 'boom boxes';  the tape deck doesn't work, but it can still be used as a radio?  Or that box of plumbing parts - what if I need one of those next week?  And how about those souvenier books from Washington, D.C. - wouldn't those be helpful to our grandkids if they ever had a school project to do? 

Are you getting the picture? 

It has helped us to know that we are doing our kids a HUGE favor!  When we leave all this stuff behind and move on to Heaven, our kids won't have the time to go through this junk!  They'll have a big fire in the backyard and burn it all!  Meanwhile, they'll stand around and laugh, saying, "Why did Dad and Mom keep all this junk?" 

Steve Green's "Find Us Faithful" captures my sentiments precisely:

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

In case you'd like to hear it: