Faith Over Fear

Estate sales are not for the faint of heart.

I tell you this as a professional vintage clothing reseller who still sources vintage clothing from estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores. Even after doing this part-time for the last fifteen years, I am still overwhelmed at the sheer amount of stuff people collect and then attempt to keep their homes functioning. 

The last estate sale I went to was a small house. Probably 1200 square feet. But every closet and every cabinet was filled to overflowing with excess. The garage had racks of shelves of stuff.

The woman who lived here may have been on a fixed income, maybe not. She may have used coupons to get free items because every single cupboard - every one - was filled with duplicates to the max. But maybe not. I didn't know.

What I did know was that the mouthwash, dish soap, and carpet cleaner (and the like) were not only in the cupboards in multiples of ten in the kitchen, but were in multiples of ten in the spare bedroom, the bathroom, the primary bedroom, and the garage.

As I perused the home, all I could think was, So when did her fear overtake her? 

There's nothing wrong with wanting to make every dollar stretch. It's honorable, and I wish more people were better stewards of their finances. It's amazing what one can do when their budget matches their income. But this was beyond making sure her needs were met. With every closet I looked in, it appeared that her fear of not having enough had thoroughly infiltrated her heart and soul. 

She may have gone to a nursing home or an assisted living facility, or perhaps she passed away. I didn't know the particulars, but this is what I noted: She can't use any of what she accumulated where she's at now, whether dead or alive. 

At this estate sale, her hoarded collections of household products had given way to other people looking at her supplies and buying them for pennies on the dollar. Or like me, wondering why she had to have so many of the same items.

I hadn't even met this woman, and I felt horrible for her. And yet, was she so very different from me? It was a reminder that fear can be a strong deterrent in living a faithful life, and it's not difficult to see how this can happen to anyone, including myself. 

Remember the toilet paper run of the recent pandemic? It doesn't take much for people to become afraid and belong to the "scarcity mentality" that panicked most people into overbuying an innocent household staple. 

So, how do we make sure we have what we need, but not to the point of overconsuming? How do we remain minimalists with enough in case of emergencies? These are some basic ground rules I use in my home to ensure I have enough but not too much.

Six months' worth of nonperishables. If I want to stock up on something, like mouthwash, I will buy no more than six months' worth to hold at any time. At the very max. Usually, I buy in bulk, which covers two to three months. And that works well. But if I had the opportunity to buy more, six months' worth is as far as I'll go. Even with a catastrophic event, six months is a long enough time to recover from any issue (including halitosis), and I'm pretty sure the world will be running semi-normally again by that time, no matter how bad things got.

One year's worth of perishables. This sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. If I use a jar of peanut butter every two months, then I'd make sure I have no more than six jars in the pantry at any given time. A year is a long time to get things back in order, and having a little stockpile to secure my emotions until then is a justifiable amount. As it is, I don't even have that much now. At most, it's six months' worth, and probably more like four.

Faith over Fear. I refuse to live in fear. Yes, it's wise to have food and supplies in a small stockpile for future emergencies; it's wise to prepare. But where's the joy in living the rest of our lives? There is zero joy in fear, only more fear to contend with. To live an active life worthy of our calling, we have to prepare, but not to the point of hoarding. When I let that go - the desire to have more than I need - and surrender it, that's when my faith is activated.

As the Boy Scouts say, "Be prepared." But being overprepared does no one any good if you're not there to use that preparation. Faith over fear is a challenge I deal with daily because it's easy to be afraid of everything. One look at the news and my anxiety heightens tenfold (which is why I watch the  news as little as possible.)

But if I live a surrendered life, I'll never live in want and always have more than enough. And with a little planning and a lot of faith, surrendering my fear of not having enough will lead to a life that can be both fully prepared and fully enjoyed.

 A life that is full of having what I need and having enough to bless others.