Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, my home congregation, has a month-long series called “Losing It” that features contestants from The Biggest Loser telling how their physical transformation was a factor in their spiritual transformation. Teams of members and staff, including our Executive Pastor Bob Roberts, are competing to see who can lose the most pounds.

Northwood Church Losing It team, photo by Betty Alford

I don’t have a weight problem, never have. Unless you consider the names I was called in grade school: “Pick up Sticks,” “Bones,” “Spider.” I was what most kids would consider “too skinny” when I was little. As an adult, I’ve heard the phrase: “There’s no such thing as being too skinny (or too rich).” I’m not overly skinny anymore, but I have been blessed with a metabolism that allows me to eat most of what I want without a problem. I know, about 70 percent of you are hating me right now…

While I don’t need to lose body weight, I do need to lose another kind of weight. I realized that “Losing It” would be a great time for me to focus on losing the stuff that weighs me down, I mean literally.

Hello, my name is Sandra and I am a clutterbug. Not just a little bit here or there, but messes and clutter are all around me. My closets, my drawers, my tables and floors are all stuffed with too much stuff. Instead of losing weight off my body, I plan to spend the next four weeks losing the weight of too many possessions and to try to train myself into better habits of dealing with my home.

my messy closet, Feb. 8, 2012

In the interest of being real, at right you will see a picture of my closet. It’s kind of embarrassing, but that’s part of the point. Knowing that others will see my mess and my commitment to deal with it will provide motivation and accountability. I’ll end today with this verse:

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. ” – Hebrews 12:11