Michigan Camp Meeting 2023: The Boldness of the Cross

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Clear Clutter and Get Organized

Patsy Towar

1. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

You are about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2023 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

We pray that the Lord will bless you as you listen.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much that in heaven everything is clean and orderly.

And dear God, we know because you live in our hearts that you want our homes to reflect how heaven is put together.

And as we go through these 5 days together, these 5 hours of concentrated effort, Lord, may we go home with a wonderful realization that you want us to have clean, happy, peaceful homes.

May we be blessed even today as we listen.

Well, 1 of the things when Patsy called, I'm like, oh my goodness, okay, you know what?

I think I'm going to do, but I had to clean first.

I went through my house and I just took photos.

So what you see up there is how I have reimagined clear shoe organizers.

And it has been really, really, really helpful because my kitchen is fairly small.

And so on the back of my pantry door, I have hung the shoe organizer.

So I have all of my wraps, my baggies, I have straws, I have plastic silverware, popcorn bags, you name it.

It's all in these little pockets and it's not taking up room in my drawers and in my cabinets and I absolutely love it.

Then we go over to the other side and it is in my craft and gift closet.

So I have staplers, staplers and staples and tape and scissors, the decorator scissors where it cuts unique cuts and just all kinds of different stickers and tapes.

And I've even found some unique staples that are extra wide, and they're decorative staples, and I love that stapler.

But those are a couple of the things that I have done.

And for the longest time, I had things just kind of in a row in my cabinets.

And I'm like, I don't like this because I'm moving this to get to this, and then I'm moving it over.

And it's like, nope, I'm buying a basket, and it has to be a pretty basket, because if I'm gonna organize, I want it to be visually pretty.

So I have baskets in all of my different cabinets throughout our house.

The next 1 is my craft and gift giving closet.

So I went ahead and purchased all these different drawers and then Now look at it.

It's not organized at the moment and I'll tell you a lot of that stuff that is sitting out is Actually stuff that I used when I was creating for the women's retreat.

And so just labeling each and every drawer and in basket so that I know where things are at.

And the next 1, color coordinate a closet or 2.

So I started coordinating the colors of my ribbon spools because they get used a lot because I do love to gift people.

And that has been really, really helpful as well.

And so I just have these, I don't even, I think these containers are used for like inside closets and wardrobes and stuff, but I thought, you know what, those are wide enough for like a roll of ribbon.

So I stuck them on the wall, and now I have all my ribbon lined up.

My clothes, I just started with the whites and the creams and then went on with the different colors.

So I know when I go in my closet, I think I want to wear yellow today.

So then I know what section to go to and go from there.

You know, believe it or not, this is an old library with the drawers.

Has anybody gone to the little store downtown here that's, oh goodness, it's called the Red Rooster or I don't know, something.

And they happen to have like 2 or 3 of these.

And so I've just been stamping and I have, oh, just different paints and different things.

And this has just been really, really helpful.

Like I said before, If I'm going to take the time to organize, I want it to look really, really nice when I'm done.

And then 1 last thing that I have is this was created quite a while ago, and I do not have a slide for that.

But it's a Sabbath preparation menu, but also it's going through each room in my home of what I'm going to do each day, so that when Friday rolls down, rolls, you know, whatever I'm trying to say.

When it rolls around, my house is somewhat clean.

Now, I'll tell you, as I've gotten older and I don't have kids at home, I've gotten a little lazy.

I think I used to be more organized when I had kids at home.

But Those are just a few of the things that I have done.

So we're going to get a copy of her day-by-day cleaning schedule.

And those of you, how many of you did not get a folder?

Oh, you know, this is praise the Lord day for me.

Because you know what, We're going to make more copies.

They'll be without the folder, but you'll get the handouts.

You can always go to Walmart and buy a folder for a dollar.

But we're going to make sure you get handouts for every single day.

And we're just so grateful that you're all here.

I think it's because it's cold outside and it's like, hey man, I got to do something.

I'm going to meetings because it's too cold out there.

I'm going to put a positive spin on cold weather.

I just want to give a short story about my own life before I give you some pointers today.

I was not raised in a well-organized home.

My home was clean, but It was messy and it was cluttered.

She canned hundreds of quarts of tomatoes and green beans.

We called them rich people, well-to-do people who needed house cleaners, she did it 5 days a week.

2. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

>>[music in the background You are about to enjoy a presentation recorded at the 2023 Michigan Conference Camp Meeting held at Cedar Lake, Michigan.

>>[music in the background Father in heaven, Lord, what a joy it is to know that we can change.

Lord, our house may be not what we wish it was right now, and my life may not be what I wish it was right now, but every day we can grow closer to you, we can become more like you, and we can do our best to change.

We want you to work in us, willing to do your good pleasure.

And Lord, we want our lives, our homes, our hearts, our minds to be organized by you.

We want to live in neat, tidy spaces that reflect your plan and your goodness.

Lord, bless us as we go through this day.

And as Patsy gives us her presentation today, Lord, may our hearts be inspired and maybe be encouraged.

And maybe remember the angels' delight to work by our sides.

All right, well, I could tell you lots of stories about how my family feels about my organizational abilities here.

And I will include a couple of them as I go through my tips.

But my first tip, you're going to love it.

I am telling you, we've moved about every 5 to 7 years and it makes you pare down stuff, man.

And if you really wanna get minimalistic, move every year.

1, if you do a good move every year, you will get so sick of moving that junk that you thought you really wanted that has been in the storage box, and you'll finally decide that you're happy to live without it.

So, while I know that you can't actually, most of us don't actually move every year, you can pretend like you're going to move every year.

And you can go through every room in your house just like you would if you were going to do a move.

And when you know that you're going to move, I'm telling you, the purchasing ideas change.

When I go to the store, like, OK, let's say I go to Goodwill, and I'm looking for something particular, and I see something else, I'm like, ooh, I really like that.

Like, that is literally the question that pops into my mind, because I have to move it.

Well, then do you want to get rid of it when you can't use it anymore?

Well, if I'm willing to part with it and it's gonna do me good for right now, I may be willing, but that's the question I ask myself.

Tip number 2, be generous, willing to share with others your excess.

I don't even know where this stuff comes from.

But when I have extra stuff, this was especially true when I had young kids at home.

Because you get toys, like where do these things come from?

There are 2 things that live in a house with young children.

There is a sock monster who only eats 1 sock.

And there is something that reproduces toys.

I don't know how it happens, but they just pop up out of nowhere and all of a sudden you're like, where did all this stuff come from?

So When we would have extra things, I would get rid of them and share them with kids who don't have stuff.

You don't understand, there are families that are refugee families that have just moved to areas.

There's families that have just experienced loss or divorce or separation that have moved in with grandparents who have nothing for these children, and when they can go to Goodwill and pick up something for 2 bucks, and it's super nice because you just gave up your good stuff, not just your junk stuff, It benefits somebody else.

So Aunt Bertha gave your kids this cool, awesome toy that for whatever reason, they just don't use.

But man, there's this little Hispanic family down the road that just moved to the area, their kids have nothing and they are elated.

They play with that very thing that sat, collected dust and made your kids pick up the bazillion pieces of it 4 times a day and now they're loving it.

Sometimes we think, well, I might need that again someday.

Press down, shake it together, running over will be put into your bosom.

For the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

If you want to save something that you are not using, God is not honored by that.

There's a family that could use that extra set of dishes.

There's a family that could use the extra vacuum cleaner.

There's a family that could use the extra food processor or the blender that you just don't ever use, you thought you'd use it, the air fryer, right?

Give it to somebody who would use the air fryer.

You are then a blessing in living that principle and God will give back to you.

If you gave away something that was useful to someone else and they've used it and all of a sudden in 2 years you find yourself needing it, God has amazing ways of providing it back to you.

I would be, I'm a pastor's wife, we would be wading through papers if I didn't get rid of them.

Occasionally, OK, I've been using this process for, we've been married for 28 years this July.

And there have been 2 occasions that I've regretted it.

Once it was ashes, and the other time I had to dumpster dive.

But otherwise, only 2 times in 28 years, Patsy.

3. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

Welcome again and thank you so much for coming.

This warms my heart when all these chairs fill up, all these pews.

I know There's a real need in this area for decluttering and organizing, even if it's just 1 drawer.

Okay, so I've got some housecleaning to do.

I hope you'll just give me a second while I do this, okay?

People that wonder what all that garbage was doing on that back table.

And I've been waiting for someone to ask, what is this garbage for?

And somebody ask, I was waiting for you to get uncomfortable about the garbage being on the table so I could run up there and I could throw it away.

That's what we want to do in our homes day by day is to get rid of the trash and the clutter.

We got 2 questions yesterday, and I need my question lady.

So we have 2 questions, excellent questions that were handed in yesterday, and we'll do 1 at a time this time.

Oh, how do we get past the sentimental part?

The memories are strong, so I feel like I'm throwing out or giving away memories.

The things that we are attached to sentimentally is the hardest to unclutter.

All those precious people, maybe they're living, maybe they are not, but they are very special to us.

So whenever you're ready, and that's very important, Here's how to declutter the sentimental items.

Remember your house is a home and not a museum.

It's not a museum for you to come, people come to your home and you've got to go through your museum and show them all your, you know, trinkets from whenever.

Wish that worked, but that was a good suggestion.

But let's run through some of these others.

Be sure to surround yourself with things that make you feel good and happy.

If there are things that are sentimental but they don't bring you happiness, you need to think about that.

You gather all your sentimental stuff and you put it on a table and you look at it and you meditate over it, and you touch it, and you feel it in your heart.

And then you Ask yourself these questions.

Does this item bring back pleasant memories?

Number 2, does this item take up space in display that I want it to, do I want to display it so I can regularly look at it?

Or is it going to go back into a box somewhere for another 20 years?

And after looking over the items, that's very close to your heart, and I'm talking to myself too, guys.

I know I'm trying to make it fun but you know I'm her I get you you know I know what you're talking about after looking over the items select what do you think 2 or 3 that was a husband I think no you know it's hard it is hard because to me it depends on what the memory represents.

If it's something small and it doesn't take up a lot of space, then I can keep small little memory things in 1 little container somewhere safe that every now and then I can pop open the lid and look at those memories.

If it's something big, then I typically don't want it to take up space and I would rather gift it to another person, remember the beautiful memories and know that It's now blessing someone else.

If you have a family member that would enjoy receiving it and enjoy looking at it and touching it like you have enjoyed it, give it to them and they will be blessed by it also.

So the 1, and listen carefully, the 1 we should be most sentimental about is who?

Do we love Jesus more than we do our sentimental items?

Our sentimental items are very important and God is glad that we have those memories, but above all, sentimentalism is all about Jesus.

He deserves all our love, our respect, and worship.

Did you know, now this is, oh man, this hits close to home when I say this, Sentimentalism is a form of worship.

Let's just be honest with ourselves this afternoon.

We can actually become so attached that we begin worshiping those things.

So be careful that your sentimentalism does not come between you and your relationship With Jesus is that a good answer Yeah, and it's hard.

It is the hardest thing to declutter things that mean so much to us, but if they're taking up our living space, we've got to address them and decide what to do with them.

Okay, what paperwork, after my burn comment yesterday, what paperwork should be kept versus tossed?

I've kept everything since I've moved out of my parents' home.

I'm picturing myself, I'd be wading through papers at this point.

I just don't know what's safe to get rid of, and also even to store papers that I needed to keep, like how to store them.

Isn't it interesting how we get attached to trees in our house?

So this is a question that we are addressing today.

It's talking about an overabundance of paper that has caused a mountain of clutter.

Papers that have been kept since she moved out of her parents' home.

So I just want to share with you some important papers that you should not burn.

So if it is tax returns up to 7 years, keep them.

I have gone, I have went into churches who have tax returns of some sort and membership things of some sort from the 1800s.

And it's taking up space and they want to build sheds and barns and whatever to house the new stuff that they don't have enough room for.

4. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

Father in Heaven, Lord, thank you so much for this day that you've given us.

Lord, we are thankful for Patsy and for her willingness to share her talents with us, Lord, and the ideas that she's come up with, the tips that we have for keeping our houses organized, be able to keep them clean and tidy.

Lord, be able to wade through our stuff so that we can actually live a happy life.

Lord, I just pray that you'd bless today as we go through today's topic.

And as we answer these questions, Lord, may you be with us.

So you want to read the question and I'll read the answer.

So someone is really heartfelt about how their friend's home looks, okay?

So the best way, yeah, the best way to encourage someone to clean is not to say anything at all.

Generally someone who keeps a messy place is not doing it because you, because they want to get on your nerves.

It doesn't mean they don't care about you.

It doesn't mean that they just want you to be miserable because of their mess.

But it is very important that you do not view a messy person, a messy place, and it's you got to divide it from the person.

There's many things going on in their life, and it's the house that's a reflection of their heart, their pain, their whatever it is, the challenge that they're going through.

And they need your love and not your criticism.

Just remember, if they're a single parent, listen carefully, They may not have time to wash dishes because they've got to change diapers.

Walk in their shoes for a day and you might understand why what the way their house looks is the way it is.

If you see a mother with a crying baby in church, you offer to help.

You don't go in the back room and criticize the babies.

They're the next year, the next generation.

Focus on the things such as, and this is something you can think about, your fire safety.

Or emergency access, should it be difficult to get through their house.

Now if you're a super, super, I mean super, super wonderful good friend and you have a million bucks in your pocket, alright, I prefaced it all, then you can walk in and lightly say, wow, your place is a mess.

And if they're in the right mood, and you've caught them in the right attitude, they might say, oh, thank you, I can use all the help I can get.

All right, let's go to the next question.

Okay, so this 1, you know, we're both pastor's wives, we've been there, right?

What do I do with the stuff that church members put in the church kitchen?

Series

Clear Clutter and Get Organized

4. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Clear Clutter and Get Organized

3. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

55m

Clear Clutter and Get Organized

1. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

45m

Breakouts

God’s Call to the Jungle

1h 2m

From Home to Eternity

01 Capturing the Joy of an Adventist Home

1h 4m

General Sessions

Mission Program

59m

Dealing with Success & Failure - Maintaining Reliance on the Giver

46m

The Power of Unity: Reflecting Christ in Every Relationship

05 As for Me and My House

59m

Reasons to Believe

03 Evidence of Old Testament Archaeology

1h 1m

Clear Clutter and Get Organized

2. Clear Clutter and Get Organized 101

36m

The Key of Your Testimony

52m

Becoming a Visitor-Friendly Church

05 Guest-Friendly Follow-up

49m

Building Homes of Hope and Wholeness

01 A Firm Foundation

38m

Sound Doctrine