Where is the clutter in my life? We as humans are good at distracting ourselves with business, it helps us cope with the things we do not want to deal with right away.

Clutter can look different for everyone, for me currently my life is clutter free, but it was not too long ago that every place I looked there was clutter, and it robbed me of my peace for far too long.

I had a deep loss in 2023 and with grief came the need to busy my mind and my life became cluttered with too many appointments for this or that, paperwork that I did not want to deal with. My dads health that I did not want to pay attention to.

My marriage became strained and my kids were stressed, I was sick and I did not even realize that all the things that I kept piling on myself, the yes’s that really needed to be NO’s where literally killing me.

A friend came to me and said Jessica, maybe God has you in a season of letting go of things, maybe you need to declutter your life, and cleanse some things.

I began to pray and ask God where I needed to let go of things, where I could clean up and take back my peace. I started with a step study at Celebrate Recovery, inventoried my grief, I began to scale back on the volunteering I did at church to give myself time to heal. I began to take a deep look inside and for the first time in a long time I asked

What do I need? It was no longer about what my kids needed, because they needed me to be healthy and have peace, my husband needed the same. They needed me to be at peace, then I can tend to their needs once I had delt with my own.

I began to see people as opportunities to get out and I began to go through the clutter, the unfinished things, the unmet expectations that i put on myself. I forgave myself, not because I failed me, but because I am human and I am allowed to fall apart.

I spoke up, I no longer stayed silent, when I needed help, I asked for it, if it was broken it was thrown away immediately. I began to slowly go through the things that my mom left, and I found peace in her words because I learned that she walked the same path that I did just 40 years prior, she grieved and she cleansed and she was able to declutter and live a full happy life.

Decluttering looks different for us all, but the common thread that links us all together is that we find peace in letting go of the things that hold us bound. No matter what that looks like in your life there is peace waiting on the other side.

Take that first step, take a deep dive in what you need to let go of, it can be physical clutter, or mental clutter, it can even be both.

Either way, there is someone who has walked where you walked and felt what you felt, do not be afraid to share where you are and God will meet you right there. He met me in my mess, and he helped me clean it up, what he has done for many he will do for you.

Trust him, let him love you where you are

I am not who I was, because he did not leave me as he found me, and for that I am eternally grateful