When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways (I Corinthians 13:11).
In our house Helen and I have a bedroom that served for several years as a storeroom. It was filled with memorabilia and things we "might use someday." When the holidays were approaching and the prospect of adult children and grandchildren filling the house, we needed the space for sleeping. The task of sorting through all of the things in that bedroom fell on Helen because she is an archivist and "Creative Memories" consultant. I dare not do this task as I tend to throw away too much.
How does one know how to differentiate what is to be kept and what is to be thrown away? One person's junk is another person's treasure. Throwing away a card or a paper is like throwing away a memory. Even if old cards, letters and papers are never accessed we know they are safely stored in a box somewhere for us to access should the need arise; we fear losing control of the past if we throw these things away--control issues can be as much cause of clutter as disorganization. What a wonderful asset to any family is an orderly archiving of photographs and papers. Not only can they settle disagreements and disputes, but also they can help adult children come to a better understanding of their lives. There are times in each of our lives when we need to do some emotional and spiritual house cleaning and a good family archive can be a great assistance in that task!
No matter who you are, even if you are a bachelor or bachelorette, it's time to start the archive because there are people and relatives to whom it will make a difference! Much of the past will be forever lost to succeeding generations if it is not archived in such a way that it can be found.
Grace&Peace;
Tom
*This is a revision of an earlier post.
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