{"id":42,"date":"2014-08-19T08:31:50","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T13:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?p=42"},"modified":"2014-08-19T08:31:50","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T13:31:50","slug":"weeding-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html","title":{"rendered":"Weeding It Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For the past couple of months, I\u2019ve complained to my family that we\u2019re drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago, and I threw away or gave away most of the things we owned, but now I turn around and there are piles upon piles of things all around us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This is what I found at the top of this stairs. This is what gluttony looks like, y\u2019all.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wish that I could blame it all on my husband who really is <\/em>a pack-rat, or on his small pack-rat minion children, but I think at least half of it is my fault. I\u2019m the one who buys things.<\/em> While it\u2019s true that I\u2019m also the one who drags things out of the house, the fact remains that I\u2019m mostly the one who carried them in in the first place.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been just needing a little bit of motivation to get me into a full on throw-all-the-things-away mood. I found it this weekend in the Place of All Wisdom!\u2026<\/em>otherwise known as Facebook. (Don\u2019t give me that look, I\u2019ve seen enough of those inspirational memes to know that I\u2019m not the only one getting advice from the people-who-weren\u2019t-my-friends-in-high school.)<\/p>\n

Sunday morning I saw this quote:<\/p>\n

The bread which you do not eat is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of him who is barefoot. The money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.<\/em> ~St Basil the Great<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The garment hanging in your wardrobe\u2026.is an injustice against him who is naked. It was the truth that I have suspected all along. We are not just pack-rat\/hoarders\/drowning in excess. We have crossed the line into sinful. We have too much stuff. My children own so many clothes that their laundry sits folded in piles on the table waiting to be put away. Each child has piles <\/em>of clothes. There are a few of them who can go weeks without repeating a single article of clothing. That\u2019s more than any one person needs.<\/em><\/p>\n

The more I thought about it, the guiltier I felt. I have created an occasion of sin for them. By satisfying their whims for stuff, I have taught them that these things have no value, and they live that way. The torn pants that are met with a shrug, the broken toys which are thoughtlessly tossed aside, the effluvium of excess which is strewn about my house in carelessly discarded pieces. (I\u2019ve seen the stuff that\u2019s hidden under my teenage sons\u2019 beds. It\u2019s not pretty.) This is gluttony, plain and simple. I have led them to this place, and it\u2019s my job as their mom to lead them back out again.<\/p>\n

Starting this week, we\u2019re weeding out the excess from our house. We began with our wardrobes, and made three carload full trips to the donation center. We\u2019re still in the midst of laundry and expect to take at least that much again in the next couple of days. I\u2019ve gone through the pantry and pulled out anything I know won\u2019t be eaten. The people at the food bank were thrilled to get the foodstuffs that my family will balk at eating. Then came the painful part as I went through my kitchen with a critical eye. I may love to cook, but I can\u2019t think of a single justification for owning four springform pans.<\/p>\n

This is how I\u2019m planning to spend the rest of this week, and well into the next one. I\u2019m getting us out from under the pile I\u2019ve helped to build, both spiritually and physically. Sometimes stuff is just too much stuff, and the piles of it block the way that God would have us go.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past couple of months, I\u2019ve complained to my family that we\u2019re drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago, and I threw away or gave away most of the things we owned, but now I turn around and there are piles upon piles of things […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWeeding It Out<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weeding It Out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shoved to Them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/files\/2014\/08\/room-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rebecca Frech\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rebecca Frech\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html\",\"name\":\"Weeding It Out\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d\"},\"description\":\"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Weeding It Out\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/\",\"name\":\"Shoved to Them\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d\",\"name\":\"Rebecca Frech\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rebecca Frech\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/author\/rfrech\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Weeding It Out","description":"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Weeding It Out","og_description":"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html","og_site_name":"Shoved to Them","article_published_time":"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/files\/2014\/08\/room-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Rebecca Frech","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rebecca Frech","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html","name":"Weeding It Out","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-19T13:31:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d"},"description":"For the past couple of months, I've complained to my family that we're drowning in stuff.\u00a0 I don't know where it all comes from. We moved three years ago,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/2014\/08\/weeding-it-out.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Weeding It Out"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/","name":"Shoved to Them","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/a480038559bb99863ca3ba86f368775d","name":"Rebecca Frech","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53a07a84a2f9a9ba08b14e744e53ae70?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rebecca Frech"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/author\/rfrech"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1979"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebeccafrech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}