EDP #119: Texas Rangers Hat

Reason: I got this hat to wear at a themed training for work. If you know me then you know that I don't have any reason to wear it.
Destination: who wants it? Hardly worn. I know there are tons of Rangers fans out there.
Comment: it's a pretty cool hat. Complete with wear marks straight from the factory.


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Possessions: Idols and Religion

The Extremeist:

     Some may look at this Excess Depletion thing and admire it,...
They may feel the tension in their own lives and desire a similar change for the good.
     Some may look at it as an elongated spring cleaning and say, "Yeah, I will get around to doing that at my house sometime soon as well."
     And then others looking in may say, "What the heck are they doing. Why are they being so radical about this. They are just things. Do they not appreciate the things God has blessed them with? Not everything is trash, you know!"
I would agree with all 3 of these perspectives for the most part. The truth is, the pendulum can swing too far in almost any area of our lives. (with the exception of putting God first) In this case there are 3 places we can go.

Materialism: The state of mind or illness where we place such a high value on things (consciously or unconsciously) that we are constantly striving to add new things to our lives in an effort to find fulfillment. We make accumulation of wealth, professional success and achievements a substitute for God position in our lives as Lord and King. Christian or non- Christian these "things" become idols and chasing after them becomes their religion.

Asceticism: The Ascetic takes things to the opposite extreme and rejects all material things, placing them in the unspiritual category. He casts out all material or pleasurable things as rubbish that are separating him from a true spiritual life. In an effort to gain "true spiritual life" he is making the rejection of material blessings his idol and now the rejection of the material becomes his religion.

To quote Randy Alcorn, "Our Lord lived simply but he was not an ascetic."

Christ following: I am learning and believe that the Christ Follower should hold loosely enough to material things so that he is willing to let them go of them as the Lord leads him. Or even to cast them away from him if they are causing him to stumble. But we must also value material blessings enough where we recognizes them as gifts from God to be used as tools for his Kingdom.

Back in December, I had the realization that my material blessing and desires for success were causing me to stumble. They were hindering my ability to discern and obey God's direction. They had clogged up my life where I had limited capacity to be moved by His inspirations. So we began the Excess Depletion Project in response to this verse,..

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. - Hebrews 12:1

My greatest desire is to be fully aware of and involved in "The Race" God has marked out for me. I am striving to live in a state of mind where I refuse to allow the "things" and "patterns of this world" entangle me and trip me up in my walk with my Lord. As I dug deep, I could have made an idol out of the rejection of material things. I could easily have made a religion out of this part of my journey. But, by the grace of God, prayer and study of His word, He is giving me new clarity and understanding.

So,... as I am still at a place where I believe God is calling me to throw off those things that have been entangling me, I recognize there may be a time when he tells me "Okay my son, stop! Now go and use the tools I have given you to do the work I am trusting you with." But isn't he calling us to that RIGHT NOW anyway. So we must find the balance. I love Him, His truth is pure and His ways are  inspiring. That's why, even though I may stumble and fall at times, I will stop at nothing to keep Him on the throne of my life and strive to make doing His work my religion.
- Jason K

An Influx of Depletion

The purpose of the Excess Depletion Project is to create the much needed space in our hearts, minds, lives, and home to have a better capacity to be led by God's will; to be what he's called us to be and to do what he's called us to do.
Truth be told, we have been born into a country that affords us greater opportunity and material blessings than many of his other children he loves equally in other parts of this world. This presents a huge responsibility to use the things we have in a way that honors God,... to give to those who have real need,...and to be free from the American Dream that hold us in bondage to the "patterns of this world".
Living our lives with an open palm rather than a clenched fist is one thing we battle every moment of everyday in the cultures we have grown up in. Cultures that tell us constantly that we are entitled to more and that "the more" will fill us up and make us whole. So we grab and grab and grab for the newest, shiniest and most comfortable life possible. But once we have all of this the challenge is that our hands are so tied up, clinging to what we have stored up for ourselves, that our hearts are not free to give or to serve in the ways we are called to. Not to mention we become more frustrated and less content as we accumulate more and try to maintain our shiny lifestyle.

 

One verse sums it up well:

"Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastes 4:6

So you can think of the empty closet pictured here as our attempt to have one hand that remains open to serve. That empty closet really does bring some peace & tranquility to the home!
Sometimes we have had to dig deep into our excess to provide room in our lives to give or to serve....
.... And if there were any question in our minds we stand convicted when we read 1 John 3:17
 "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"
We have been getting a little behind on the EDP due to our general busyness and 10 day trip to Uganda.
We have tried to limit the time spent dealing with these items and posting them since to spend too much time and energy violates part of our purpose in all of this. The 2 posts below are the result of our influx as we strive to leave 1 hand open, in God's grace and strength.
I hope you're not too overwhelmed by the Influx of Excess Depletion.. If you can't see the following posts click the "Home" Tab above...
Enjoy- Jason and Carrie K

EDP Item #70 - 82: Influx of Excess Depletion

So,... Here we go with the "Influx of Excess Depletion" from our guest bedroom closet,.... Do you see anything you can't live without?

Item #70: Batz Maru Picture frame (Complete with cat chew marks)
Reason: I used to collect Batz Maru stuff in my younger years, it has some kitty chew marks on it but I have had a hard time letting go for some time. The time has come.

Destination: Giveaway

Item #71: Radio Frequency Audio Transmitter

Reason: Our Electronic clutter drawer has gotten out of hand. I am sure there are better technologies than this these days if I ever need it again.

Destination: Fundraising

Item #72: Watercolor kit with sketch book and instruction book

Reason: This was an awesome gift given to me many years back. I never got around to trying out the watercolors.

Destination: Sell to Half price books for fundraising.

Item #73: "Smile God Loves You" Keychain  Smily face with body

Reason: Maybe this will make someones year

Destination: uhhhhhh, it's going somewhere...

Item #74: Mirage "Bangin" subwoofer

Reason: One of the many audio system pieces I have collected in my time in the home theater business. Carrie bought it as a valentines day gift one year. I just don't need extra systems all over the house anymore...

Destination: Selling for fundraising 

Item #75: 6 Pairs of Editor Pants from Express

Reason: Carrie has many of these editor work pants that number in the double digits. These are just 6 pairs of her least favorite.

Destination: Sell for fundraising

Item #76: A bunch of Christmas Gift Bags

Reason: We got a lot of bags and these aren't exactly our style for gift giving

Destination: Freebee at our next garage sale

Item #77 & 78: Stainless Candle Holder and Pack of Tealights

Reason: It's not that we don't like these, it's just that we don't need them

Destination: Garage sale for fundraising

Item #79: Purple Handbag

Reason: This is another that is hard to let go of. Carrie actually just used this. No worries, it is one of many
Destination: Sell or donation

Item #80: Canon Printer, fax, scanner, copier

Reason: This printer has been awesome and is really nice, but one day it decided that it didn't want to print color anymore... I did all sorts of troubleshooting and nothing worked. Still does a great job with black and white. 

Destination: Will give it to someone who needs a printer and is okay with B&W prints

Item #81: Bag of Beads

Reason: We have beads in bags, boxes, case, corners and who knows where else. They could be considered an investment if we would make jewelry out of them but this is a bag of rejects because we just needed to get rid of some of them
Destination: Freebee for whomever

Item #82: Plaid iPod 3Gs case

Reason: Got for carrie and it's just not working out
Destination: Fundraising garage sale

EDP Item #83 - 118 : Influx of Excess Depletion

So now for some items we have grouped together... You wouldn't beleive if you saw how much stuff we could fit in a little guest room closet. Since cleaning out the closet has gotten so out of hand, I no longer have time, energy or capacity to catalog items individually.. So here are items #83 - 118...

Item #83-84: 2 more journals

Reason: Just not getting used, don't worry we have plenty

Destination: Will give to someone at Samaritan Inn

Item #85-89: Plastic Camera, Digital Camera, Floppy disks, Binoculars, Mitsubishi remote
Reason: Dont need the pastic camera (Wait maybe I will kerp it for my collection,... Mini digital cam doesnt work (I had hopes it would magically start working, Floppy disks don't work on any of our computers (they have old photos on them) Binolculars (really?? They were given to me for my trip to the superbowl, I don't even have a mitsubiushi tv, nor have I ever had one)

Destination: Donationation and recycle

Item #90-92: Candle, body spray, assorted basket
Reason: More excess

Destination: Garage sale in May!!!

Item #93: Wrapping Boxes

Reason: We have been getting more creative with wrapping so we don't need empty boxes taking up space

Destination: Freebee at Garage Sale in July!!!

Item #94-97: Craft paints, sheet to paint on, painting apron, pain palet

Reason: Just excees in the closet, this doesn't breach the surface of painting supplies

Destination: Garage sale

Item #98: a bunch of power adapters
Reason: Don't have these phones anymore ( I could have sworn we got rid of these during our last garage sale)
Destination: uuuhhhh, I think I can recycle them?

Item #99-101: 2 CD's and a movie, Planned on gifting them
Reason: Gifting never happened, they were in the closet
Destination: Sell to Movie Trading for like a quarter each, No wait,... We are definitely going to give that extra Mosie CD to someone who will appreciate it.
Item #102-105: Note pads, hand creme, pens and some other makeup

Reason: These were also bought with intent on gifting, Didn't happen!

Destination: Garage sale!!!

Item # 106-111: Curtain Rod, Painting Rug, Framed Wave Picture, lid to laundry basket, unused shear curtains and scraps of material

Reason: Just look at this mess!!!

Destination: Garage Sale!!!
Item #112: Dell Docking Station and Power Adapters
Reason: Don't have LapTop
Destination: Will be delivering them to the employer who provided them

Item #113-116: Yes, another hair dryer, Blanket, some exercise thingy Tara unloaded on us and keepsake luggage tags from company events
Reason: think about it....
Destination: Donations

Item #117-118: 2 laptop bags and a CD Visor thingy
Reason: Making room in closet, we can't afford to have these unncessary items
Destination: Donation and Garage Sale

Better is One Handful

" Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.   Better one handful with tranquillity..... 
   ... than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastes 4: 5-6

EDP Item #69: Converse shoes, not Chuck Taylor's but the other kind.

Reason: too many freakin' shoes in the closet
Destination: Clothing donation
Comment: another casualty of my closet rampage from this morning.


- Jason K

EDP Item #68: Flip flops

Reason: This is 1 of 5 pairs of flip flops I have. I found myself kicking shoes and other junk around in my closet as I was flailing about in frustration trying to reach some hangers in the back of the closet. This is one of the items I kicked in my haste. This is a good example of what excess does to your life.
Destination: Clothing donation.
Comment: fact; these can be referred to as Bath Shoes in Africa.


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EDP Item #67: Pink journal

Reason: We have a lot of journals around our house. This journal has been sitting around for probably 5 years unused. It has a different Bible verse on each page and could be a great blessing to someone who will use it.
Destination: Will give as a gift to a women at the Samaritan Inn.
Comment: We hope this excess can in some way meet the need of someone else.


- Carrie K

EDP Item #66: Sony portable speakers

Reason: very convenient but working for Bose I have many portable speakers so these don't get used.
Destination: took to Uganda and gave as a gift to our friend Sarah who serves us with all her heart as our representative and honorary team member at Hesed.
Comment: Sarah loves music and will put them to good use.
- Jason K

EDP Item #65: remotes for items we don't own anymore

Reason: self explanatory
Destination: recycle
Comment: na

- Jason K

EDP Item #64: picture frame

reason: bought this frame because it was on sale. It has been sitting around for a year or 2
Destination: This frame went to Uganda with a picture of Carrie and I for our friend Keith and his fiancé Namakula who requested a picture of us.
Comment: it's in great hands where it appreciated more than we, in America, can imagine.

- Jason K

EDP Item #63: candle holders

Reason: these cool candle holder plates are another pair of items that we like and would definitely use,.. But we simply don't need them.
Destination: fund raising
Comment: another ouch! But I'll get over it.

- Jason K

EDP Item #62: pair of drop shaped candles

Reason: The only reason we are getting rid of these beauties is that we simply do not need to have them. They actually match everything we own and are totally cool but we needed another item to let go of. So, here they are.
Destination: fund raising
Comment: why is it so hard to let go of a couple purple wax candles?

- Carrie K

EDP Item #61: pair of ugly hats

Reason: don't need these and will never wear them. They are
More examples of crap that companies give you to remember them and turn you into a walking bill board.
Destination: Donation
Comment: not necessary


- Jason K

EDP Item #60: 2 pairs of Diesel Brand pants

Reason: you know how girls have "skinny jeans" that they hope to fit into again one day?.., Well, so do some guys. I have had these 2 pairs of pants for probably 4-5 years from when I was my thinnest. They are exactly the same except for color. I really liked them but have come to the realization I may never be that size again.
Destination: donation
Comment: this is another great example of my idea of excess. I have a bad habit of buying duplicates of clothing items that I really like. This is a habit I am trying to break. Rather than having multiple of the same item I am trying to wear the one item more frequently.
- Jason K

EDP Item #59: Beautiful Red and OrangeVase

Reason: just and extra item sitting around. We really like this case but it doesn't match anything we have and it really encompasses the definition of excess (a thing that is good but unnecessary which takes up space, time, energy or resources)
Destination: fund raising
Comment: this was a bit hard to let go of. Not sure why. We have ha it for about 5 years and we did use it once recently.

- Jason K

EDP Item #58: Bluetooth headset/ stereo headphones

Reason: Just sitting around with other blue tooth devices waiting to be used by someone. I got it for free from a Samsung rep and had high hopes of using it. My iPhone at the time did not support it.
Destination: Given to a friend
Comment: this is another one of those techno devices that has the coolness factor going for it,.. But at the same time it is a bit over complicated and contradicts its promise of convenience. What is the point of a wireless headphone if I still have to have a Bluetooth headset hanging around my neck? How is that easier than a cord going into my pocket? Really!


- Jason K

EDP Item #57: izone camera

Reason: I have 3 of these and the film is almost impossible to get now. I have an affinity for instant photography but since Polaroid closed all of their factories years ago the camera is of no use.
Destination: fund raising or recycle :(
Comment: yes, I have 2 more of these cameras that I may let go of by the end. I just have this glimmer of hope that I may get some film one day. I actually got this camera free with purchase of some film on ebay. Of course the film was expired and had gone bad. :( Waste of time, money, resources, space and emotional energy.


- Jason K

EDP Item #56: photo album

Reason: not in use.
Destination: fund raising
Comment: n/a

- Carrie K

EDP Item #55: metal dry rack?

Reason: taking up space
Destination: Donation
Comment: actually, we bought this 8 years ago to put between our home theater components for ventilation because they were getting to hot.
Ended up in the kitchen after we stopped using it.

- Jason K