The Broken Cup: Christian Poetry

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We are owned by our possessions.

I’ve begun to realize this in the last few years as I’ve been buying and cleaning out abandoned self-storage units full of other people’s possessions. Big stuff, little stuff, old stuff, new stuff. Too much stuff. So much stuff that it won’t all fit into our homes and we stick it in a storage unit, because although we’re not using our stuff, we can’t bear to part with it.

I often wonder why we feel we must have so much stuff. Are we trying to fill empty space inside ourselves with material objects? Will our possessions bring us peace, contentment, and happiness?

I think not. In fact, the opposite is often true. We are swamped with material possessions and drowning in the illusion that our stuff makes us happy, when true happiness can only come from within us. Do we really need much more than the bare essentials, food, shelter, clothing, to have a satisfying life, or do we just surround ourselves with material possessions so that we may have a sense of security?

Our greatest satisfaction in life should come from our relationships with God and family. Happiness might be found in what we own, but true joy is found in what we love. There is no material possession more beautiful than a newborn baby, colorful flowers blooming in the spring, or the orange-red glow of the sunset. No tunes from a CD player compare with the music of rushing water or the choruses of birds.

Over the years we accumulate great piles of belongings, when we really only need a few quality possessions to take care of. I admire my friend Suzanne, who lives a minimalist lifestyle, only having as much as she can take with her. She’s free to move between Indiana, where her family lives, and Colorado, where she has friends, on a whim. When wanderlust strikes her, she hits the road without the weight of material possessions to hold her back.

Perhaps Suzanne’s vagabond lifestyle isn’t for everybody, although it’s starting to sound pretty inviting to me! As a young woman, I thought I would be satisfied living in a teepee and weaving rugs for a living. Now that I am reaching the half-century mark I’d like to believe I still could be content with such a simple life but the truth is I’m spoiled for modern conveniences.

We don’t have to live out of a backpack to live a minimalist lifestyle. We can continue to enjoy having a permanent roof over our head, and may appreciate it even more when all the excessive and unnecessary clutter is removed. Studies show that clutter can produce stress, and our home should be our refuge from stress, not add to it! When we can’t find our favorite sweater in a closet stuffed with clothing, the family room becomes an obstacle course of toys, or we can’t get the car in the garage because we’re using it for storage of household possessions, it’s time to start clearing away the clutter.

The first step in creating a minimalist home is to get rid of all the unnecessary clutter. Find places for the possessions you do need and love, and keep them there when you aren’t using them. Get rid of anything you don’t really need or use by donating those items to a charity or holding a yard sale. Keep from adding more clutter by adopting the “one in, one out” rule, and when you add something new to your home, get rid of one old possession.

A minimalist home is sparsely decorated, but not bare and uninviting. Choose quality over quantity. A handsome coffee table of real wood is more impressive than a room full of tables made of particle board. A curio cabinet filled with geegaws and knickknacks doesn’t allow you to appreciate the beauty of the individual objects. Choose only a few of your most unique and interesting decor items to display. Take down the myriad wall hangings and pictures and choose one or two exquisite pieces to accent the room.

Homes with children are especially prone to clutter! It can be difficult to help children adopt a minimalist attitude when they’ve always received all the latest toys, electronic gadgets, and clothing that all the other kids have. Even though you may not buy them a lot of things yourself, they are always receiving gifts from friends and relatives for holidays and birthdays. Encourage your children to keep their most prized possessions and donate the rest to a charity. One is never too young to learn to give, and to consider the welfare of others less fortunate. Ask gift-givers to give presents of experiences (a movie date, a pool party, other fun activities, or a donation to a favorite charity in the child’s name) instead of more material possessions that your child doesn’t really need.

Once we give up our desire for the mass accumulation of consumer goods, and are unburdened of their daily care and maintenance, we will find our reward in building the relationships we have with others, and with our God.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Since I have not been writing much poetry lately to add to this blog, I’d like to introduce you to one of my fellow Associated Content writers. Joy writes beautiful, healing poetry that is truly inspired by God. I asked her if I might reprint some of her poetry, but she respectfully declined because of previous unfortunate experiences in allowing others to do so. Please take a moment to visit Joy’s AC content producer page and check out some of her poetry.

Joy is a survivor of incest and child abuse, and through her faith in God is overcoming her past. This courageous woman has come forward to help others who are also victims of abuse, and her blog, Healing Stream for Survivors, is a wonderful resource for those who have been through such experiences. If you’ve been fortunate enough to never have been a victim of abuse, perhaps you know somebody who has, or still is. Please send these links on to them.

My friend Jannette’s son, John Jr., is in the National Guard, and scheduled to be shipped to Iraq in February. His parents have been good friends of ours for 24 years, and I have watched Johnny and his older brother grow up, so it’s like watching my own son go off to war. His father passed away last year in May, so Jannette will only have her older son, Duane, with her now. Please pray for Johnny’s safe return, and the safe return of all of our other fine young men and women who are serving our country.

I haven’t put too much personal stuff on this blog; it was my poetry outlet, but I seem to have run into a brick wall as far as poetry inspiration. I’m not able to just decide “Well, let’s write a poem today.” My inspiration usually came when I was doing some mindless activity. When I was doing monotonous assembly work in a factory, with plenty of time to just let my mind wander, a sentence or two would pop into my head, and I’d go from there. Most of my earliest posts were written while I was slapping washer timers together! Since I’ve become self-employed, apparently I don’t have enough mindless-activity time.

I’ve never felt comfortable writing posts about my personal life. It’s really not too interesting, and I’m afraid I’ll be reduced to writing about what we had for supper last night. I don’t want to bore anybody with the details.

I guess I’m at a point in my life where I know that God is there, but I haven’t really felt his presence like I used to. I know that’s common, even Mother Teresa experienced that! I’ve been neglecting my prayer life and bible study, so I guess that’s why. My fault, not His! In the meantime, my husband, who has always resisted going to church with me, seems to be getting closer to Him. I can see it in his actions and attitudes. He has a Bible at work and reads on his breaks. He was raised in a Pentecostal home, and tells me that sometimes he feels called to ministry. I haven’t been to church in a while, and we talk about going together to the church he went to as a young man, but haven’t made it yet!

My self-employment has greatly reduced our family income, and it’s causing some stress. I enjoy what I do, but sometimes I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels. I’m not a natural-born salesman, and although the business is growing (slowly), a lot of the income goes back into the business right now. Part of the problem is that I enjoy giving things away more than I enjoy selling them! I am making more money off of my writing endeavors now than the second-hand merchandise, so maybe it’s time to concentrate on that instead. Writing is something that does come naturally to me.

So just send some prayers my way that God will bless me and lead me in the direction I should go.

What a morning! Don called me on his cell about 10 minutes after he left for work this morning. He has a 50-mile drive each way. The van had overheated and was trying to die on him. While we were on the phone, it died and wouldn’t start again. I called my dad and asked if he could run me out there to see what could be done.

By time we got there, Don had managed to get the van into a high school parking lot. There were students coming in early for weightlifting so the school was already open. We borrowed a flashlight from one of the students and got some water to put in the van. Unfortunately, the water ran out of the bottom of the van as fast as Don poured it in! So we left the van there and came back home.

I was pretty bummed out about the whole thing, but Don reminded me that we are to praise God in everything and to count our blesssings:

He was stranded close to home.

He was able to get the van out of the road and to a place where we could get some help.

My dad is an early riser so he was available to help us out.

Our daughter was able to lend Don her car to get to work.

If he had been able to continue down the road something worse may have happened to him.

Don went in to work a couple hours late. In the meantime, I called a tow truck to get the van back home. It took the rest of the money for the week. I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it.

After the tow truck driver left the van at the house, after I had given him what money I had left, I started to walk back to the house. I felt something stuck down in the corner of my jeans pocket. Thinking it was just an old grocery list, I pulled it out. No grocery list. It was a $20 bill! Thank you, Lord, for small favors.

…and I didn’t have my camera with me!

We were going out to dinner Saturday evening, and the car on the highway in front of us had the trunk pushed in on both sides, apparently hit from behind. We got close enough to read the bumper sticker: “I brake for butterflies.”

I would have loved to seen that butterfly!