I Am a Keeper

I am a keeper. I do not mean to say that I am so unique and special that I should be treasured (although I do believe that to be true as well), but rather that I like to keep things. To collect things. To amass collections that make my husband scratch his head in wonder. To  stash sometimes useless-looking items that make my kids sorry they will someday have to clean out my closets...and attic...and basement...and...well, you get the picture.

The upside to being a keeper is that I can usually come up with just the right item to finish a project, whether I am working on artsy-craftsy things, home improvements or special holiday decorations. Duct tape with Dorothy's slippers printed on it? I have that. 6 pair of scissors with different types of scalloped blades for scrapbooking? I have those. Googly eyes to glue on or sew on? I have both, in several sizes. Dowel rods, three kinds of glue, paper grocery bags to cut up for origami trees, polyfill stuffing for toys and pillows? I have all of this and more. This is without even considering the yarn...ohhhhh, the YARN!

Occasionally, I get a bee in my bonnet to clean and/or declutter an area, which actually happened a little earlier this week. I was getting ready to cast on a pair of socks, because I had a dentist appointment. (You all know by now that I cannot sit in a waiting room without knitting!) Well, my favorite sock-knitting bag had become a collection of odds and ends that made finding my yarn in there a little challenging, so I emptied it out next to me on the sofa. Among the dental floss, tiny balls of leftover sock yarn, stitch markers, row counters, chap stick, hand lotion, pens, coffee sleeves, paper clips and toothpaste (I had taken this bag to the dentist on many occasions), I found this:

Yes, it is a foot. This is my preferred method to "measure" people for sock knitting, and although this foot appears to be about my size, I noticed there was writing on it. The writing indicates that Randy wears a 10 1/2 shoe and Dean wears a 12. It also notes color preferences and that Randy would like "fuzzy bunny" slippers. I know that he was likely joking, but you know what I knit, right?

Right! And he would tell me, almost every time he talked to me after Christmas that year, that they were the softest, coziest slippers he had ever had. He even asked for another pair a few years later, because these had worn out from so much use. It was a nice memory, to be sure, but I really don't need to keep this "pattern" or the notes about the sizes of these brothers' feet anymore, so I did something that is starting to become more common for me. I took a picture, so I could share the story without feeling obligated to keep all of the things. 

As I was listening to my daily dose of audio-Bible this morning, I thought again about how this is just what God has done for us. The Bible is the divinely inspired recounting of the memories of what God has done for his people (that would be you and me), from the beginning of time. And no matter what kind of clutter there is in your life, there is something in the book for you. The words that I come back to again and again in my life are these: "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears." (Ps 34:4) There are many others, but this one usually comes to the front of my brain first, and it comforts me. It is my own personal truth. He has already delivered me from so many fears, and although I know that I will have new fears (daily, sometimes hourly), I completely trust his promise to continue to deliver me. Even though I walk through the shadows of my cluttered life, I will fear no evil, for God is with me! (Ps 23, VERY loose paraphrase)

Mork and Dollface, when I am gone, there should be at least one tiny knitting bag that you will not need to sort through and clean out. I know you are thrilled about that! In the meantime, we can all hope that the next bee in my bonnet leads to the decluttering of a closet...or the attic...or the basement! Now, friends, on to the knitting!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!