Downsizing

As I am back in Chicago, I am finding that I am in a different mindset than I was before. I find that I am glad to get rid of stuff. That all the stuff that I have in the basement sitting there is becoming more and more heavy to me. I’ve found myself going to Goodwill every day for the last couple of days, taking a box of stuff that I find I have no use for or that I haven’t used in a number of years and most likely will not use for a number more years.

A lot of the unwillingness to get rid of stuff is because there are dreams, expectations or hope that was tied in with that object. Whether it was a hobby that you started down the road with and never fully realized, or stuff that you have kept because one day you are going to live at the beach, every object that we have here represents a dream or a ideal that we hold onto.

I find that my dreams and ideals are changing and with it as I take things to Goodwill or throw them away, I’m putting to death a lot of hopes and dreams that I had been holding onto for the longest time. The dream of having a bungalow home surrounded by well made arts and crafts furniture that would last till I die, sitting on a comfortable leather chair and appreciating the beauty of quartersawn oak wood and the craftsmanship that was put into the pieces of furniture that are preeminently useful in the house. The dream of having a super fast car that can scoot to where I want it to go and have enough oomph to be just a little scary on the turns. The dream to have a family with 12 kids and live in a nice house with a nice yard that they can play in. All of these I have to lay down because God has given me the dream of Taiwan. To see Taiwan grow into a country that becomes a launching point for Christianity into the Far East. While my heart is glad and I know that there are great things in store for me in Taiwan, putting things to death is never glorious. But once they are dead, it IS glorious...oh, I don’t know how i’ll ever go back to the way that I was...I had too many dreams and not the Great Dream.