On Taking Stock of the stuff...

It would seem that major changes in my life never really go quite according to plan.  I have had months to plan the move from Kitchener to Kingston,  but still there have been all manner of bumps along the way.  Perhaps the biggest has been trying to arrange for my stuff to join me here in Kingston.

I had booked the move to happen on September 7th, so that my things would arrive here about a week behind me,  but I figured that I had enough things here with me that I could "camp out" for a week without much difficulty.  What I hadn't seen was that to secure that date with the movers I needed to sign back the estimate.  I had sent numerous emails to them stating that date,  but when I contacted them to work out logistics,  they told me that since I had not signed the estimate,  they gave my time and date to another customer.

So now,  my "stuff" will not join me until September 14th.    My first thought was that this was going to be terrible. Yesterday,  my sister and I, David and Kathy, and Becky had worked very hard getting everything ready for the truck to arrive.  It seemed like it would all go ahead according to plan.  Now, how would I live without all that stuff?

I hadn't sat fuming about this for very long before I realized that I have been very happy there in the house with just the bare bones of necessities.  The "Camping" experience has been really quite enjoyable.  Without all the stuff, I have been able to spend lots of time working on projects around the house, and have accomplished lots of things.

It put me back in mind of the message that I had preached on Sunday, (full audio of the sermon is available here. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/258986237/20160904%200800%20Sermon%20Don%20Davidson.mp3 ) on the Gospel in Luke where Jesus tells the crowds that are following him that they cannot be his disciples unless they can leave behind father and mother, sister and brother, wives and children,  and where he cautions them that they cannot be his disciples unless they can renounce all their possessions.  He never calls any of those "Things" or people bad,  he simply tells them that Discipleship cannot be an add-on to life.  It must always be the very core.  All other things must take a back seat to our discipleship.

All my stuff -- and believe me,  when it was all piled up in one place,  it truly was a frightening pile -- (or even the lack of it) has not really impacted on the joy of this new ministry.  With or without "stuff" I have been called, and I have answered that call,  and it has led me down an exciting path.  The Gospel is right, in that we can at times get so focused on our "Stuff" that we lose sight of what is truly important.  What a joy to be reminded that no matter where I may be, or whether or not things move along smoothly, I have everything I need right here with me.