I just finished cleaning out the pantry! To many of you that means nothing but to most homemakers (men can be homemakers too) cleaning out the pantry is a full day’s job. My pantry consists of five shelves in what was supposed to be a ‘broom closet’. But I soon changed that. Having most everything at eye level instead of under my hip level or over my neck level, seemed like an answer to a prayer…so I have a ‘pantry’…it is a godsend.
But it ‘collects’. I always mean to keep it in order, but some days there just isn’t time, or the phone or door bell rings and there I am stuffing another object where it doesn’t belong.
So I tackled the problem yesterday. It took me two hours to get everything out, sorted, stuff thrown away, re-arranged etc. In the process I found things I had completely forgotten about. I have enough chili powder to make ‘sloppy joes’ for the whole church; two dozen packages of instant noodle soup…I must have got a fantastic deal on those to buy so many, and two small jars of powdered stuff that I didn’t recognize at all…they went in the garbage.
In the process of this cleaning up, I began to realize how very wealthy I was. Lots of canned good, some staples and some desserts and a box of chocolates…don’t you just love chocolate?
World Vision and so many non-profits place before our eyes the state of so many countries well short of my tiny cache of goodies. I can’t feed them all, so I give to Presbyterian World Service & Development and trust them to fill the shelves in their pantries.
Cleaning out the pantry is something like cleaning out your lifestyle. There is always some good stuff in there but like the white stuff in jars, there are things we are not sure about and it is best to heave them out and use the containers for better things. One can only manage what one knows.
I think we all have parts of our personality that could use a good clean-out. Often if we are getting annoyed at other people’s faults, we find they are the very ones that we are guilty of…so that’s a good place to start cleaning out. And it is so easy to be negative…try a day without a negative statement…about friends, family or government…now there’s a challenge!
A Pollyanna I am not, and someone too cheery can get a bit wearing at times, but I am a firm believer in laughter, so share a few jokes, take the dreariness out of your pantry and stock up on laughter and joy…it looks better on your shelf and when shared it tastes even better.
Photo by jeffreyw via Flickr/CC
