packing/unpacking and digging in the closet

I wish we could say that we are half way moved in to the cottage at Waypoint, but I went to our home in Commerce last night to do some more packing and I am afraid to say we a have a lot more to pack. It is funny what a newlywed couple can accumulate in such a short period of time. Joel and I have memories from our childhood, family pictures, children's books & toys. We were blessed with a few inherited pieces of furniture bed room suits, tables and dishes. Not to mention the overflow of beautiful new wedding gifts we received. This stuff in our home reminds me of how quickly we store up things in our hearts and in our minds. Our bodies are like a building and if we don't slow down and take a mental, spiritual and emotional inventory of what we have stored up we will become so full that there is no room to move or to add new memories. We focus on the old pictures, the chipped glasses, and complain that we never use the "good china" that is still in the cabinet. I can relate this to my Christian walk. On a regular basis I need to observe my habits, my gifts and my motives to what I have and what I need to improve.

Sometimes the men that need a place like Waypoint are at a place where they feel trapped, no where to move. They have memories of their childhood that are not good. Pictures in their head that this is the only way to live and "I can't breathe, there are so many piles of clutter." "If I try and clean this house now it would take forever to make it straight and fresh, this is impossible, where do I start?" The men are overwhelmed by the junk in their life that they just want to walk away. I praise God that there is a place like Waypoint. That there are godly leaders and teachers. That there are godly lessons and applications that can help these men.

So please pray for these men to keep focused, to dig into the back closets of their heart and head to clean out all the clutter that is keeping the men from living a godly, clutter free life. There are lots of memories, plans, and thoughts that they need to give over to God, to be laid at the cross and to be thrown out completely. There are lies that the men have been told that they need to work through. Please pray that these lies will be replaced with God's word and God's truth. That Christ will be the cornerstone of a new foundation for these men to live by.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6