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Earlier this week I decided that I would have a garage sale. I had
a lot of things just sitting around gathering dust, so I thought why not sell
it? So I started getting things in the house ready for the sale. On yesterday,
I began the daunting task of cleaning out the garage. This is where the lessons
began....
My garage had become a mini storage unit; everything you could think of was out there. The usual things like the lawn mower, lawn tools period, were hanging on the wall in their respective places. The freezer was in it's nook and working properly. But we had a lot of other things out there that I just shook my head at. Stuff out of my car when I didn't feel like taking it in the house, I just dumped it in the garage. My son's things from college after he graduated, movies, a dresser, a bed frame, and a mattress; boxes of stuff. Things from the last time I had a garage sale. You name it, it's out there. The only thing that was not in my garage was the thing it was created for...The cars.
Lesson I: Though we have many uses, when we get away from what we were created for, a lot of things can begin to pile up in our lives.
As I began my task, I looked at the garage as a whole. Where do I start? What should I do first? Should I pull everything out or should I go section by section? Should I go around the perimeter and get rid of things that are not needed? Or, should I just deal with the middle where I want to have the sale at? I heard the Lord say, "Until you tear it down and clean it out, you don't have a true picture of what you have."
Lesson II: You can't start something new on a foundation of moving old junk around to make room for it. That is how you got here.
So...section by section, I started pulling things out and going through them. Just as I was about to throw out a box of stuff, the Lord would say, "Dig a little deeper." I said, "Lord, I don't know what is in this box...it has been out here for a minute." Same response, "Dig a little deeper." Every time, I would find a book, pictures, or something that was so precious that I had forgotten I had, I would smile or laugh.Each time wonderful memories would flood my heart.
Lesson III: No matter how messy, dirty, or tedious it may feel, you need to sort through the junk. There are some true treasures there.
As the sun was starting to go down, I heard the Lord say, "Do you see why I have to tear you down and sift through the junk in you? What you were created for is getting lost in the stuff you keep putting there. In the midst of all of it, I can find the treasures that make me smile when it comes to you."
I'm not through in the garage, and I can tell He is not through teaching...That is what I love about God...His classroom is, wherever He wants it to be.
My garage had become a mini storage unit; everything you could think of was out there. The usual things like the lawn mower, lawn tools period, were hanging on the wall in their respective places. The freezer was in it's nook and working properly. But we had a lot of other things out there that I just shook my head at. Stuff out of my car when I didn't feel like taking it in the house, I just dumped it in the garage. My son's things from college after he graduated, movies, a dresser, a bed frame, and a mattress; boxes of stuff. Things from the last time I had a garage sale. You name it, it's out there. The only thing that was not in my garage was the thing it was created for...The cars.
Lesson I: Though we have many uses, when we get away from what we were created for, a lot of things can begin to pile up in our lives.
As I began my task, I looked at the garage as a whole. Where do I start? What should I do first? Should I pull everything out or should I go section by section? Should I go around the perimeter and get rid of things that are not needed? Or, should I just deal with the middle where I want to have the sale at? I heard the Lord say, "Until you tear it down and clean it out, you don't have a true picture of what you have."
Lesson II: You can't start something new on a foundation of moving old junk around to make room for it. That is how you got here.
So...section by section, I started pulling things out and going through them. Just as I was about to throw out a box of stuff, the Lord would say, "Dig a little deeper." I said, "Lord, I don't know what is in this box...it has been out here for a minute." Same response, "Dig a little deeper." Every time, I would find a book, pictures, or something that was so precious that I had forgotten I had, I would smile or laugh.Each time wonderful memories would flood my heart.
Lesson III: No matter how messy, dirty, or tedious it may feel, you need to sort through the junk. There are some true treasures there.
As the sun was starting to go down, I heard the Lord say, "Do you see why I have to tear you down and sift through the junk in you? What you were created for is getting lost in the stuff you keep putting there. In the midst of all of it, I can find the treasures that make me smile when it comes to you."
I'm not through in the garage, and I can tell He is not through teaching...That is what I love about God...His classroom is, wherever He wants it to be.
Lessons From My Garage
By Elder Brenda Bradley
Quickly establishing herself in the market place through her wit and down to earth teaching style, Brenda Bradley makes the subject matter so simple “a baby could understand it!” A vibrant speaker, who so vividly draws the picture, that you will feel as though you were transported directly to the event with a front row seat as you watch it unfold.
A wearer of many hats, Author, Playwright, Choir Director, Praise & Worship Leader, Mentor and Pastor, she lives by a motto, “I never meet a stranger .” Her approach is grounded by the Word while keeping it real to deal with the issues of the day.
With her revolutionary new book, “The Boaz Factor…When you are ready for the Real one” she breaks through the bearers of how and why we end up in the relationships that break our hearts. Through practical, hands on application she gives us a fresh word on situations that occur in our relationships generation after generation with a plan to obliterate the cycle!
Happily married 22 years, she shares Pastoral responsibilities at the Rhema Full Gospel Fellowship Church with her husband, Elder Damon Bradley. A proud mother of two and grandparent to two, she spends her down time spoiling her grandbabies! “I understand why they call it grand!”
Go to http://elderbrendabradley.com/ for more information on Elder Brenda Bradley