As I settle in to my new home – my happy place – I realize how much unpacking both sucks and doesn’t suck. It sucks because it seems to take FOREVER (are the boxes MULTIPLYING behind our backs?!???!). It doesn’t suck, because as I pull things from boxes and organize them, I come across so many memories.

Marie Kondo has famously stated that the key to decluttering is to hold an object in your hand. If it sparks joy, you keep it. Of it doesn’t, you get rid of it. Simple, right?

Only, no…not so simple. The reality is that most of us own things that hold mixed emotions for us. I unpacked a pair of running leggings today that I wore when I completed my first half marathon (and for that matter, another pair that I wore when I completed my second half marathon). Those memories spark joy, for sure. But they also make me a little sad (and, I hope, a lot determined) because I cannot do more than about 1.75mi in a run right now, I weigh more than I have in the better part of a decade, and if I had to attempt a Half tomorrow I could neither fit into those running leggings, nor expect to actually finish the distance.

But…I didn’t throw them out. And not only because they are ridiculously expensive LuluLemons (though, let’s be honest, that’s definitely a part of it!), but because as I unpack my belongings I am also unpacking a couple of years of unhealthy living. I’ve begun running again (I have said that FAR too many times in the past two years, but I hope and pray that this time it sticks). I’ve signed back up for WW (where it all began), and I’ve stuck to it for a few days. I am living in a place that nourishes and strengthens my soul, and I am determined that in the next few seasons, I will also strengthen my body.

It’s going to take time. Just as the unpacking and organizing of belongs will. But I am determined. I am motivated. And the only thing standing in my way, is me.

So, I’m getting out of my way. I’m reminding myself that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and I am grateful for the suck/doesn’t suck reality of unpacking.

May you, also, find ways to move forward into the future Christ has for you, may you know that you can do all things as he strengthens you, may you press on.