Learning a Lesson

My strategy in moving Ruth, my mother-in-law, into our home was to first move the personal items that she needed, and then gradually move the things she wanted to keep. In essence, with each load we left behind things she didn’t want, or didn’t know what to do with. Last weekend other family members came to help and their strategy was different. They wanted to see what they were dealing with so they pulled everything out of cupboards, closets and drawers. I have to admit that even I was overwhelmed looking at a lifetime of miscellaneous items, treasures and memories all strewn across countertops, tables and chairs. Some items had Ruth asking herself, “Why do I have that and I wonder who gave it to me?” Sayings of the wise from Proverbs, “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw…” (Proverbs 24:32 NIV).