All my stuff’s here

For the first two years of our marriage, David and I split our time living between his Virginia Beach house and mine in Georgia. Such arrangements were necessary while he finished renovating his former 1963 home to sell it in late December 2024. As David returns to VA Beach this week to work on a side job with one of his dearest friends, I’m reminded of one of our favorite David and Sara-isms that still makes us laugh.

Until the final week we moved out of what we called our “northern guest home,” we maintained two separate households. Each of these properties had all the comforts we needed to live there for weeks, if not months, at a time. In addition to our clothing, each house had beds, pots and pans, towels, plates, and even TVs. More important than all the comforts of these homes, most of David’s tools resided in VA Beach, where he needed them to complete his renovations.

With such a long interval of living between the two states, the reality of David’s final move to GA still seemed surreal, once complete. In one instance, earlier this year, David offered to help our local church with a small job: replacing some roof shingles after a windstorm.

As he shared his commitment with me after our Sunday service, I had to stop myself from asking a question David knew was on my mind.

 “Do you have…” I began, before stopping myself short.

“I have everything I need,” David said, laughing. “All my stuff’s here. I live here now.”

“I didn’t even have to finish my sentence,” I chuckled in return. “You knew exactly what I was thinking.”

“I did,” David said,” because I was thinking the same thing!”

Since then, David and I use this phrase often: “All your stuff is here.” Doing so always makes us laugh.

How often do we forget that our earthly dwellings are only temporary? Not enough, I suspect. I’m guilty of often doing so, myself. I get so caught up in the day-to-day busyness of our lives and all the things I need and want to accomplish that I often forget that this place is not my forever home. My life here is only temporary.

It’s easy to get caught up in the here and now, and even what is happening tomorrow. While all of that is important, our worries and strivings for what we have and hope to have pale compared to what God has in store for us.

Matthew 6 admonishes us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (V 19-21)

I freely admit that, having to start over 3 times in my adult life, I place too high a value on the things I’ve been able to secure for my home. Apart from the furniture and coastal decor I acquired from various estate sales over the years, I drive a cute yellow Hyundai Veloster and have way too many clothes and shoes. In short, I have a lot of “stuff” – much more than I need.

I know I “can’t take it with me” when my Heavenly Father calls me home, so I should be more heavenly-minded to do more earthly good. Like David’s tools in Georgia, all my stuff’s here. I need to concentrate more on what I’m doing for Christ’s kingdom – consistently being Christ’s hands and feet to everyone I meet and work with. I need to give more for the furtherance of His gospel worldwide. I must “lay up for [myself] treasures in heaven” rather than worrying about what I have while I’m on earth.

1 Corinthians 2:9 reminds us, “’What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” That’s what I need to concentrate on.

I need to change the phrase to “All my stuff’s there.” That’s where I need it to be. Heaven is my eternal home. I can’t wait to see what my Heavenly Father has in store for me there.