Make Room

 With a new year comes new beginnings. New beginnings may come with being given or buying new belongings. In order to receive those new belongings, we need to have a proper space for them to be placed. I believe everything should have a place somewhere. When I go shopping and want to buy something, I have to ask myself two questions: "Do I need it or want it?" and "Do I have room for it?" Now I don't get the answers to these 100% correct every time (some of what I say I need is a want or I haven't prepared my space properly), but I'm doing a lot better than I used to. I'm learning to be more aware and careful of my responses and act accordingly. You see, I love to shop💖! Do you know who else that was special in my life that liked to shop too?! You guessed it- my Mom!! So you can probably imagine our closets at home 😊. My Mom's room has the walk in closet and mine has the regular size. Then there is a walk in closet in our computer room, which my Mom and I both had clothes in. Now, over time, we had to get rid of and donate items we no longer wore or that did not fit. In the years since Momma passed away in 2020, I have really been cleaning out clothes in the closet and our spaces in the house in general. For me, the papers, folders and clothes accumulated quickly! I had clothes I forgot I had! I also found some of my Mom's beautiful clothes that I didn't realize she had or I forgot about. I now wear a lot of my Momma's clothes 😊. You see, over time, people would give us clothes or we would buy them from the store. Just like my Mom, I love a good sale and thrift store finds, which is where many of our clothes came from. As mentioned earlier, I have become more wise in my shopping choices and more intentional to get only what I need and what I know I'm going to wear. In cleaning out the spaces, I have either kept them to wear myself, given them to family members or donated to Momma's favorite thrift store 💜. The more cleaning I have been doing, the more I am making room for anything new I do receive. Clutter is a real issue! I have been working to tackle that head on and I'm getting there step by step. In the same way we are cleaning our physical space, let's also clean out our heart. Let's make room for the new God wants to do in our lives by getting rid of the old. A new year is only a new year when we make new and different choices. The new and old cannot mix. The Bible speaks of this  in Matthew 9:17 in which we're reminded that the new wine can't be put into old wineskins. It will burst because it can't contain that. It's not fit for that. The old cannot fit into the new. As we're cleaning our physical spaces throughout the year (it's an ongoing process), let's not forget our heart and what we might be holding on to that we need to let go of. When we hold on to extra stuff, it weighs us down. When we let it go, we feel much lighter. I know those physical spaces I'm working on cleaning look a lot better. It's been easier to navigate around. Let's make sure we're daily cleaning out our heart from things that can weigh it down, such as unforgiveness, pride, selfishness, worry, fear, doubt, hurt, and unrealistic expectations 🙏. Keep cleaning your physical spaces and your heart😊. Let's free it up and make room for all the new God wants to do in me and you 💜! May God bless you!