Saturday, January 4, 2014

New Year. Coming Clean

Let's start out this new year on the honest foot!
Not the my life and house is perfect, and squeekly clean foot, the honest one.

The little honest voice you often silence to keep you from saying the thing you shouldn't. 

You know... the one that says, "Your but really IS too big for that dress."

So..... 2013 was the hardest year of my entire existence. 

I dealt with alot of the "ish" and "such" in the silence and confines of my overly messy house. 

Truth really is.... my house has been soooo far from a blog post since we moved it that it's not even funny. 

Like could barely get it together enough to get the laundry done, kids fed, and work.. messy. 

It's embarassing but true. 

So.... when your messy... you see mess and start cleaning out. 

Around May I spoke with my friend Sibi, she said something so profound. In so many words she said: "You know Jenny Beth, this year is going to rock you, it already has, so do one little thing you can that YOU can allow to rock you. Sell everything you own. Get sold out for Jesus."

I took her literally.... 
If you live in Memphis, you have seen me on the resale pages, selling everything I own. 
If you shop the awesome Sugar Plum Consignments, you probably bought alot of my clothes, shoes, belts, bags, and coats I took there. Over $500.00 worth of stuff I wasn't using.

If it has no tangible purpose in my life... its gone. Down to those pesky paint samples. 
By June I plan on only having 10 boxes in my attic. 

Yes 10.

And you know what I learned through this process??
It's hard to sell your favorite Lilly shift dress that you fit into when you were a size 4 and thought life was totally going your way.

And it's hard to sell your favorite Tory Burch wedges, even if they slightly don't fit.

It's harder to sell all your designer jeans because since having three babies your body is trashed and hips and spread and ... uh, NOONE wants to see your crack at the playground.

You know what else? 
Selling all these things, to be sold out for Jesus, so Satan can't use your Kate Spade bag as a deterent to go do ministry work, because you are afraid one of them will steal your bag.

IT'S A BAG! 
Ya can't take it to heaven!!!!

So if you keep said bag, and it does get stolen.
 You have been brought to a place of true understanding, true rawness, of caring more about people and their hearts than your perfectly ensembled wardrobe and your bag. 

I think the hardest thing...
Is seeing people soooo consumed with these things when you realize, hey... a Gucci is just a bag, as much as this 20.00 seersucker diaperbag on my arm.

Your perspective changes, that stripping away of the things you thought that mattered, they help you see what truely matters. 

It's that phone call you never made.

Or that friend you thought about at a traffic light today but you didn't send her a "I was thinking about you text."

SO my beautiful personal highlight of 2013 was being sold out for Jesus. 

And for those of you who want proof... 
This is my closet. 

Sold out. Down to bare bones. 

And proud to rebuild the wardrobe only after I respect and rebuild my body.

2014.... I will be sold out for Jesus through intentional living. 

Please Join me.
What's your resolution?

5 comments:

Jenny Beth said...

And obviously..I will be catching up the blog/ be a better blogger/ have lots of new yummy content for yall to check out!

Erica B said...

Love your honesty! And know that you are not alone in feeling consumed and overwhelmed by things around the house. My house is never picture or visitor worthy unless I intentionally make it that way for company coming. Recently, I realized I had a laundry pile up and when I tried to pull the basket out of my closet (that was stacked twice the size of the actual basket) the clothes fell on me and knocked me over. Rock.Bottom.Under a pile of clothes. So never feel alone in that sort of thing!!

Jenny Beth said...

Erica... thank you! and I laughed at your laundry story! I don't know how all the laundry will ever get done?

Jessie Jones said...

JB, this is awesome! Can't wait to read about what 2014 brings for you and your family. I am working on small resolutions through the #2014directive, and for January, I'm trying to hit a few small fitness goals (steps and miles and water per day!) Happy Tuesday!

Anonymous said...

We moved and I also did the purge of clothes and things I don't wear. Someone commented on a blog that even if a person does lose the weight to fit in those clothes, the clothes will be out of style by then and you won't want them anyway, so get rid of them now. And I did. I am also down to bare bones clothes. It feels kinda good not to have the closet jammed up and crowded. I will also be careful what I purchase so it will be a more classic style. I also didn't like thinking of the money I spent so I will purchase carefully. 2014 will be a new focus.