What's in Your Closet?

My husband is out of town for a few days.  I can always count on a handful of things to happen when he leaves without fail.

1. I will clean out at least one closet.

2. I will eat ice cream in the morning (afternoon, or night.  Ice cream makes everything better!)

3. I will stay up until 3am watching mindless TV or chick-flicks.

4. I will rearrange at least one room in the house.

This time was no different. I have cleaned my closet out. I have rearranged my bedroom. I have eaten Breyer's Home style Vanilla ice cream with fresh blackberries mixed it it. I have stayed up until 3AM catching up on shows that I've missed lately. And that's just day one!  I still have 2 and a half days left!

My closet was a mess.  I found things shoved in the back of drawers that were from the Bush Era.  There were  clothes that haven't fit me for years. There was over a dollar in change collected, hair bands recovered and missing single socks reunited. Hidden and neglected, many items in my closet had not been seen or touched in many moons.

Three hours and many sneezes later, I am proud to say my closet is clean.  Clothes are neatly hung and folded, draws are organized and labeled, shoes are paired and orderly, and the floor can now be seen.

As I cleaned I am listening to a conference of my church leaders that is broadcasted twice a year. One person asked, spiritually speaking, "What do you know?" and began to ask a series of questions to those listening.  "Do you know God lives?" etc.

It caused me to do a personal inventory of my faith and what I knew. It was a process akin to the cleaning out of my closet this morning.  There are certain aspects of my testimony that I think of all the time, but were there parts of what I know that have been tucked away? Were there things that I once knew, that have faded into the background because of doubt and neglect? Are there elements of my testimony that are hidden under a bushel?

I love my clean closet. I feel good. I like knowing what I have.  There were many things found that I hadn't used, simply for the fact that I had forgotten they were there.  Now that I know what is in my closet and where everything is, I can fully utilized it and it's contents.

It is the same with my testimony.  I feel good when I know what I believe in. As I revisit through pondering, scripture and prayer the pieces of my testimony that have been left neglect and malnourished,  I feel stronger and closer to Him. There is great power that lies in the minutia of faith.  When you know what is in your testimony, you can fully utilize the principles in your life and the lives of others.  You open yourself to receive greater blessings and an even stronger testimony.

Take a moment or two and ask yourself what's in your spiritual closet.  Take inventory of your testimony, evaluate your faith and enjoy the feeling of knowing what you believe.  Then have some ice cream for me :)