cleaning

We're moving some furniture upstairs so the kids can have a den to use. Of course that means cleaning up what is currently a seldom-used guest bedroom. We've been going through stuff, deciding what to keep and what to throw out or give away and figuring out new places to put the stuff we'll keep. It's amazing what we've accumulated over the years that now has no meaning to us, or stuff that we'd forgotten about and now want to have available for our use. Doing this cleaning reminded me of Lent.

Lent is a kind of spring cleaning. The disciplines of prayer and fasting and giving up stuff help me to examine what's in my life that I should get rid of, or what may have been unused for a while that I should bring back into my consciousness or into regular use again.

I don't do this kind of cleaning every day. But having a regular season for it is good, a way to remind me that I need a time of deeper confession and examination periodically. And the best part is the result: a life that is more available for Jesus to use.