Clearing the clutter is a terribly appropriate description of what I need to do in my life right now! I’m sitting at the desk in the back office at Twig and there is clutter to the left and right of me. I can’t stand clutter. It distracts me and doesn’t bring me joy.
But I have to remind myself that the reason there is clutter is because we are blessedly busy. We have lots of shipments coming in almost as fast as they are selling out. Not bad for a “terrible” economy! God has remarkably blessed us and I certainly don’t want my pettiness over clutter to cloud my gratitude of business!
Where No Oxen Are…
Whenever the clutter gets to me, I can’t help but remember the Proverb “Where no oxen are the manger is clean, but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.” This verse encourages me greatly and helps me have a spirit of gratitude rather than inconvenience!
No oxen – or in my case no sales, in another case no children – would leave us with a clean manger. No oxen to feed and shovel after. No stock to unpack, tag, sell and reorder. And no children to take care of, feed, train and love. That sounds bleak to me. Especially when I consider that these things are our life, what we are called to do in this season.
But much revenue or return comes from stepping into these duties with grace and gratitude! Now this doesn’t mean that we will necessarily see a monetary return on our efforts, but rather we will reap the rewards in better and more valuable ways! Oxen help accomplish more than we can on our own. They are stronger and can endure longer. Sales keep us in business, they provide workers with paychecks and paychecks provide us with food. Children mean lots of work to be sure, but immeasurable love and joy and a richer life in return!
Forget the Feelings
I don’t really feel like it…I’ve been known to say and also have heard said by many others. And I get it. Who feels like putting in more time/effort for work? (okay, so there are people called workaholics, but I’m talking about your more typical Joe who doesn’t live to work 24/7)
My sister and I found ourselves discussing this recently when considering having an office on the second floor. We discussed how we really didn’t feel like having to carry all the inventory upstairs to tag and itemize it only to carry it back downstairs to put it out to sell. And then it hit us, forget the feelings. If that is the way the office and stock room work out then we will make it work for us! And in the meanwhile get a decent workout from all the up and down! Win, win!
Clearing the Clutter
Clearing the clutter is kind of a way of life, I think. Not that we need to throw our hands up and just “accept” it, but rather so that we can be at peace with always working on this. Tidying, organizing, improving things, etc. Don’t get worn out on never finishing this and getting it to stay done. But rather rejoice in the explanation of why this constant effort is necessary!
I hope these words having encouraged you – they have certainly encouraged me! Instead of feeling like a I’ve got a cluttered mess around me, I am rejoicing in the abundance of product that we can offer our customers! But I’m also going to get busy tidying up before time to open!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Are you new to the American Lady? Keep reading for more encouragement: https://www.theamericanlady.com