The Eighteen Month Rule

Isn't winter a great time to clean out your cupboards, closets, basements, garages, and toy boxes? I have the 18 month rule. If it hasn’t been used in 18 months, it needs to go. That way, someone else can use it.

Also, if I find the cutest thing at a garage sale, I must ask, “Where am I going to put this?”

I’m not sure if it’s living in a smallish house that makes me this way or if it’s because my mom loves stuff. Her basement is like a museum. Need a pulpit? She’s got one. She also has a church pew, a barn lantern, an antique stove, antique kitchen cupboard (with a flour bin), cross country skis, a hospital bed, and…you get the idea. Of course, she does have plans for most of these items, and she does have room to store them. Plus, the pulpit has cupboards and it’s where we keep all the games. Wanna play Yahtzee, Dad? It's in the pulpit. Items must have PURPOSE or PLANS. If not, they need to go.

Still, we need to be careful of our junk taking over our reason. I do not need to be purchasing size 12 girls clothes for Sarah, plus I have no place to store them. Also, I may have perfectly good things that can be used by others. If I leave them in storage, am I being a good steward?

So, simplify. I look around and ask, do I need this, really? I either give it to people or give it to the mission thrift store. Isn’t it funny? I don’t want to have a garage sale because it makes me feel greedy, but I love to shop at them and find a bargain. (I got Mark and Luke’s mittens and gloves for 50 cents each last year at a sale, and they use them every day all winter long!)

I say all this to say. No more justification for that coat you wore in seventh grade. You wore it in your yearbook picture. Keep the picture and ditch the coat. And the ice-cream maker from your grandma? The one you have not used in 7 years, that’s gotta go. And the coat with the broken zipper, are you really going to fix it? Has it been 18 months? Take it to an alteration place or let it go.

Make it a family project. Talk about STEWARDSHIP and GENEROSITY. Look for examples of these in the Bible and in others. Get a large bag and fill it. Let your kids give toys away. Watch them think about and care for others. Pray about who will get these things. You will be blessed.