The Value of Simplifying BEFORE Stockpiling

before we can start accumulating some of the necessary provisions and supplies for the days ahead there's something we've got to do even before that we've got to simplify and clean and make room for those things so stay tuned as in the months ahead we talk about some of the very simple ways that you can prepare yourself and your family by actually paring back stay with us [Music] so I want to share with you from my heart just a little bit today it was oh I would say a few months ago I was preparing for work and getting dressed and it was almost like I felt the Lord speak to me and say these words choose carefully your encumbrances of the day that thought has stuck with me for for many different instances both spiritually and physically as I have prepared my house for the days to come in the days since that time I want to talk through that with you just for a moment choose carefully your encumbrances of the day we women are especially notorious for loading up our purses with everything under the Sun that we think we might need at some point during the day it's kind of our everyday carry kit that we keep with us at all times and that does make us useful but it also is an encumbrance that we're taking as a responsibility to always make sure we have with us we put ourselves earrings on so we look beautiful and we are willing to carry the weight of that through the day and all the nests possibilities of disaster if we got our earring caught on something or whatnot we fix our hair just right and we choose clothing all of us men and women alike choose clothing to wear through the day those are all encumbrances we choose shoes that we're going to wear to to work for the day and sometimes they're practical and sometimes they're very impractical but they sure look good right all of those are things we've chosen to take upon ourselves and carry with us all throughout the day even the car that might not have enough gas to get us any further than work that is actually an encumbrance that we've chosen as a responsibility that we're just hoping that nothing's going to be in our way or be a necessity that we needed more gas in that moment right what I'm saying is this without even realizing it by default you are choosing encumbrances for your life that you're carrying with you throughout the day and it might be a good time to start looking intentionally at what you choose to carry with you both physically and spiritually and mentally throughout the day when you choose to Harbor anger that's an encumbrance when you choose not to forgive and you carry the weight or the burden of guilt or past defeat with you those are encumbrances so when I'm talking about simplifying today I'm talking about not just physically but spiritually and mentally and financially and emotionally I'll let you hear it the way you need to but I've taken a few notes and really today we can only talk about the physical so I want to give you just a few practical steps that might help you prepare in your family for the days ahead by pairing back before you even start to accumulate I'm not saying you should throw away all your grandma's antiques I'm simply saying think carefully about the things around your home and the things you've chosen to keep as an encumbrance in your life moving forward so here are some simple steps before we start accumulating more preparedness supplies I want you to just follow with me a few key things you can do start small start with one drawer I'll bet you have in everything drawer like I do start with that everything drawer or start with your sock drawer in your bedroom or whatever it is that you need to do so start in one corner or one shelf or one drawer or perhaps it's one cabinet or one desk that needs cleaned let that be your starting point and when you get that one place simplified and cleared out give yourself a little victory dance and then go on to the next thing nextly consolidate everything that you can find in the house of like kind by that I mean go into the bathroom and find all the shampoos that need to be poured together into one bottle so that you can force yourself to just use it all up and get it done and throw away all those extra bottles if you have extra vitamins and pills go ahead and pour them into each other so you don't have multiple bottles of the same kind of thing out in the garage you men might be notorious like some of the men in my family for having multiple cans of things that they've saved thinking that you're going to use them in a few but if that paint has dried up get rid of it or if it can be poured into another can so that you've consolidated that's where you want to start consolidate everything that's a powder or a liquid or a cleaning agent go ahead and consolidate all of those also house plants believe it or not that's one of the ways you can consolidate if you're like me and you have a hard time remembering to water them regularly or get them the right amount of sunlight put them all in one big pot and keep them together so that you can make sure that you get them all the care that they need instead of having to have a different routine for each plant that's interspersed throughout the house all right nextly sell or return all of the clothing that you have that you don't wear or might even still have tags on it now unfortunately many of us are guilty of having more than we need and there's a challenge that some people have taken where they decide on a number of how many shirts and pants and shoes and hats they need and then they declutter their entire closet so they're down to that number there's videos online that you can see of a woman who chose to have 30 of each items in her closet for those of us who are are very Oh abundantly blessed Americans we have more than 30 shirts to wear some of you watching this video would be thankful to even have 30 pieces of clothing at all so I want to be careful about this there are some of us who don't need to simplify but many of us watching this do including myself decide how many pairs of shoes you need and then give away all of the rest or return them if you haven't worn them also sell or donate anything that is broken that you haven't fixed yet if it's sat there for a year and you've thought oh I'll get around to fixing that tool in the back shed if you haven't by now it's probably time to go ahead and sell it or donate it to somebody who might be willing to fix it up and it's a blessing to them and it's less of an encumbrance for you in your life also I want to encourage you to go ahead and throw out all those plastic containers that you've saved now you might go oh but those butter cartons or those yogurt containers are just perfect for leftovers and yes that's true but if you have more than enough of them you've probably got a cabinet out in your garage or over your refrigerator that's filled with plastic ware that you don't even use in the event that you choose not to throw away all your plastics I would just give you a reminder that you only want to save and reuse any plastic that has on the bottom of it a little one two or four all the rest are absolutely not even usable again but I would recommend just get rid of all of it and try to go with glass and metal instead of any plastics at all you will live it feels so good to be unencumbered and have those drawers and shelves freed up to be used for other things that are more important and vital for the days ahead I would recommend that you take one whole month and commit to not buying anything and yes you're gonna run out of milk in the refrigerator oh no well go ahead and use the dried milk that you might have in the cabinet and when that runs out use the condensed milk or whatever you might have but take a month and let yourself use up all of those things that you have consolidated the different things that have been oh that's my plan B or these are the cosmetics I don't really want to use that's not my favorite tasting toothpaste well if you're not going to throw it out you need to get it used up and if you can force yourself to take one week up to a whole month of not buying anything new just live on what you have and get used up all those extra ones that you just really didn't want to have to use at all this is the time to do it right now while you're not forced to it's a choice that you get to make and it's actually a really fun little game you can play with yourself of how long can I go this way and how much money I'm saving by just using up all of those extra things that I had been just kind of holding off in an extra drawer and not doing anything with I promise you if you take this step before you start accumulating and hoard the supplies that you might need for the days ahead you're gonna be so excited you'll be absolutely ecstatic with yourself you'll be able to have room to breathe your family will be more at peace you'll have room to make some good decisions in organization that you're going to be delighted with take the time to let us know what you're doing in your home to organize what have I missed here that I should have spoken up about because there are so many other ways that we can simplify that I haven't even mentioned let us know what ways you are practicing this in your home or games that you've played to make it easier and more fun for your family share this video with someone you know thank you for taking the time to spend with us this afternoon and I hope that we see you again on another video until then god bless you and we'll see you next time [Music] before you leave I want to share one more moment of Scripture with you this is out of first Peter the second chapter in verse 19 it says this for this is a gracious thing when mindful of God one endure sorrow while suffering unjustly but what credit is it if when you sin you're beaten for it and you endure but if when you do good you suffer and you endure this is a gracious thing in the sight of God for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his example he committed no sin neither know neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled he didn't revile in return and when he suffered he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to the one who judges justly now go spread the word [Music]

Channel: PREPSTEADERS

Views: 41,159

Keywords: simplifying, stockpiling, prepping, prepsteaders, hoarding

Id: vzJfS4n-1Ok

Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 13 2017