Basics with no Fru-Fru

I cleaned out my refrigerators today.  We have one in the kitchen and a small one in the garage for drinks and overflow storage when we are preparing for big get-togethers.  Over the past 6 weeks or so, we have been blessed to entertain someone every single weekend.  We also were blessed to be invited to visit with friends and family.  This makes for lots of food being prepared.  I literally had so much food at times, I couldn't find one square inch of space left.  The food was all so good...so rich...so yummy...so heavy. 

After a month of that, I'm ready for lighter, real food without the addition of extra butter, sugar, cream.... It makes me full just to type that sentence. 

I also cleaned out our rather large baskets of reading material in the bathrooms.  Those baskets are where magazines and catalogs go to die.  I suppose I'm afraid that if I throw one of them out, I will need it at some point in future.  Truth is that I should toss them first thing and be done with it.

I'm also gathering up all the Christmas decorations.  Most of the knick-knacks are currently residing in the floor of our foyer waiting on me to box them up and rest up for next year.  I put out a lot of Christmas decorations this year.  When I first decorate a tree, I could sit and watch the twinkling lights and sparkling ornaments for hours...and I have.  The glitter, clutter, fluff, and fru-fru of  the Christmas season is beautiful. 

But now as I'm cleaning up and putting away I realize how much I love the clean lines, subdued colors, and uncluttered surfaces in my house.  I love a clean refrigerator and an organized house.  I honestly work better when things are in order.

When I first got sick, my house cleaning fell way behind and because I live with men, they never noticed.  But I noticed.  It made me sick, but I didn't have enough energy to take care of it.  My men did help with laundry and dishes, but it's not the same type of attention that the mom gives. 

I find I'm in a season of my life where I feel the same way about worship and prayer.  I like an uncluttered, fru-fru-less atmosphere of praise, worship, and prayer.  Give me a dark closet, my bible and quiet.  That is a recipe for a spiritually happy Kelley.

I know it's hip and considered "in" right now for there to be all manner of theatrical lights, rock or country-style loud bands, emotional dramas, colorful and power power-point presentations, headlining celebrity speakers, etc.  And while I have no problem with that on occasion, it's not what I hunger for on a regular basis. 

I hunger for the quiet, stillness of lifting the whispers of my heart to the God of all creation.  He hears those whispers.  He doesn't need it to be amplified by a high dollar sound system.  He sees me without the use of flashing, colored theatrical lights.

Fru-fru and fluff might be nice for a time, but not for all time.  

I am loving getting back to the basics of life.