Artistic Camp

This morning I stumbled upon a blog post about a girls' camp someone put together for their daughter and her friends. ~Camp Avonlea~Artistic Camp for Young Ladies looks amazing and so inspiring. These girls got to sleep in a lovely white tent in the garden and do art. *I* want to go!

Here is a link to more photos.

This struck a chord with me and made me start thinking about my big barn. What kind of cool "camps" could we have out there? I could certainly see a "Little House on the Prairie" themed camp. All I need to do is clear out the clutter out there and it opens up a myriad of possibilities.

Speaking of clutter...I have decided that clutter is my mortal enemy. I need to declare an all out war, but struggle with knowing how to attack it. Sadly, I was born with the "pack-rat gene." I am a saver. I can see value in pieces of trash. I don't want to be like this and I fight it constantly. It actually pains me to go through stuff and give-away or pitch it. I am emotionally exhausted after cleaning out a closet. Once the excess is completely gone, I usually feel really good about it, but every once in a while I will feel pangs of loss for something that is gone.

I recognize, though, that clutter strangles the joy out of life. Clutter often steals my creativity and it makes small tasks seem overwhelming. The "barn camp" idea is a perfect example of this. My mind races into gear, filling with fun ideas, but the stopper is that I have a barn full of junk that needs to be gone through. Nothing can happen until that is done.

So, I realize that I need to change. I cannot be the person that God created me to be if I am buried under piles of stuff. I also realize the I can't change myself. I have tried throughout most of my adult life and failed miserably. I have to let go and let God be in control. He is gonna have to guide me though this. I can't wait!