Well, as usual, great laid plans seemed to have gone a muck this week. New Year, new thoughts, new plans. Which, in my case, involved going room by room and cleaning and purging a few things. We got more stuff at Christmas, and it is time to be out with the old. And yet, here it is the middle of the week and I haven’t even got my blog post done, let alone extra deep cleaning. And the laundry? Why, oh why, is there always extra laundry? Not even extra… just regular stuff that is still not done! *Sigh* I suppose I have to be “gracious” with myself once and a while. (If you know, you know, if you don’t, read this).
However, I did get to one task last week… the Tupperware containers! We were given a big set of new (glass!) re-usable storage containers for Christmas, and I am eager to get using those, but we have a cupboard filled with mismatched, oddball, well used lunchables already that needed organizing. Our cupboard is an upper cupboard that is a full length lazy Susan… which is an okay spot for said containers, except that the top shelf is too high for me to see, and lids often get stuck over the sides, causing the lazy Susan to stick, and, well, you get it, we needed a remix.
Now, this minimal task didn’t take very long… I pulled everything out, wiped the shelving down, matched lid to container, stacked and put ’em all back in! Yet, it always surprises me what you end up with… where did this one come from? Did I buy this or did it some how end up in there hand me down from someone else’s goodies; or did the hubby “steal” it from work thinking it was ours? Now, you know me, I hate to waste anything, so I have saved all the take out containers, over the year, for animal feed bowls and the lids make good plant water catchers under pots. Eventually, they get cracked up and useless and need to be recycled as well. I just don’t have the counter space for them, though, so they got reduced down too.
All this to say, the task got done, and my shelves are tidy. The mismatched but still good containers got collected and have moved to the craft room… for possible use there. Yes, the craft room is on the purge list… but that is going to be a much, much bigger project!
As usual, the process had me a musing. How much are we like my Tupperware cupboard? We all have one of those collections. Useful, but mismatched. Each of us come in different sizes and makes. Some are sturdy glass with tight fitting, no leak lids that snap in place. Others are useful, but temporary. Easily recycled after their best efforts. Others are good, but don’t fit in with the group… they don’t nestle and stack together nicely, or they are just the wrong size, with weird lids. Perhaps stolen from another venue.
Of course, I am not talking about how people’s size or “type” are rejected, but you get the thought, right? I’m thinking about how God’s church is so diverse, and yet, each are set for their direct purposes. Our leaders are sometimes appointed for a time, but somehow get separated from their secure lids who have gone off to be plant pot protectors. Or those of us who are short lived. Useful, but made to bounce. Temporary. Others, the expensive glass — meant to last but easily shatter if not treated carefully. I love it.
Still, every now and then, God must decide He needs to clean out the cupboard. Rescue the lids who are fallen and stuck. Move the broken, recycle the cracked, and replace and re-organize. Some of us get moved to the craft room, for new lives. Others have done their jobs and are lovingly tossed in the recycle bin. I dunno. Maybe the thought is pushing it. Whatever the case, it has been very nice to swing that lazy Susan around and find exactly what I am looking for, complete with the matching lid. And if anyone messes it up, they are in trouble! Craft room… I’m coming for you. Stay tuned.
mittonmusings 