Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I have nearly finished packing; I leave early tomorrow morning to go spend some time with my mom and step-dad. I love packing! It is the list-making and mulling over the choice items of my home life I feel I must take to set up a temporary home somewhere else. I get excited about this; I cannot say the same about unpacking. Unpacking is messy; it means I have to make decisions about where to put the new things I acquired while out of town. Unpacking means piles and places for piles: dirty clothes, clean clothes, garage, bathroom, etc. Packing means getting everything I think I can't live without into one suitcase and one cute tote to carry on the plane. Everything is contained.

Some of us like life to be this way, all pushed down snug in one small, zipped-tight container. It makes me think of what happens to the wounds of childhood; or the betrayal in a relationship; being demoted – unresolved pain zipped tight. Maybe you are beginning to see why I do not like unpacking; a lot of yuck can ooze out while peeking into the contained life. Better to unpack than build up and blow up. Unpacking is necessary and healthy when done at the right time and with the right person.

I've given a good number of hours of a good number of days of my life to unpacking the past. I am not suggesting a person needs to sift through every miniscule detail of every hurt, but if you have been wounded in the tussle of relationships, then you may find you have some unpacking to do. Looking back may give you a crick in the neck, but it will be worth it. Warning: Some unpacking is best done in with a professional counselor.

I must wrap up my packing and get to bed, 4:30 AM will come quickly. When I return home and begin unloading the stuff of my trip, let's talk more about why it is important to unpack. Just as completing a trip requires unpacking and putting things into their proper places, God is able to make us whole when we allow Him to unpack the past and put it in proper perspective.

See you next week . . .

2 comments:

  1. I am excited to see you next week! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am looking forward to hearing more about "unpacking" as I am in that very process right now.

    ReplyDelete