“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name.” Psalm 100:4

Yesterday we began moving… stuff that is! Years ago we were blessed with a rental house, in which, over the years, we invested time and money. Unfortunately, it also became a place of storage for the overflow blessings of ‘stuff!’ Having reached a point where life needs to get simpler, we decided to sell the house. Driving over to begin moving those blessings, a song came on the radio that set me in an unexpected and welcome mood.

The song was old and I didn’t recognize it at first. But after a few bars of intro, I recognized it as a Christmas song… my first of this year! The weather was cool, daylight savings time had just kicked in, and the song made me realize that the Holy-day season is LEGITIMATELY upon us. Because I love Jesus… I LOVE the Holy-Days and the expectation that they bring!

Katie and I sweat, toiled and loaded up 4 truck loads of ‘stuff’ we have accumulated over our seasons of life. Some of it is beneficial, some is just junk. But the overwhelming portion of our treasures consists of Holiday decorations. 23 boxes are dedicated, just to Christmas alone! Now the task is to move and make room for them in the house where we live!

Because it ‘just so happens’ to be the Thanksgiving and Christmas season for decorating, moving it all wasn’t really that big of a deal for me. Since Katie is going to begin working her decoration magic soon anyway, we just set all the boxes in the back area of the house where she can easily get to them. Seeing the boxes, I discovered, creates even more anticipation!

God is SOOOOO COOL! There is nowhere in the Bible that says He CREATED anticipation, like He did the universe. But there is no doubt that seasons of life are there to serve the joyful purpose of looking forward. As I move forward in time, I can see where I have been, but I LIVE for where I am headed. The STUFF of my life simply reflects what is really most important.

I am going to sort through our stuff, make places to store what is important, and discard what is not. As I think about that task, I realize Jesus anticipates and EXPECTS me to ALWAYS be doing just that with my life in Him. After all, HE is looking forward to personally seeing me at His place some day. In fact…. He’s decorating it right now!

What are YOU anticipating?