Day 29 - Boomerang Soup Mix

Just to recap:  My wife and I are looking for God's direction as we make plans to move our family down to Haiti to become full time missionaries.  We figure our first step is to sell the house and then find a cheap, cheap apartment or mooch off a relative for the next year or so to pay off debts and have the time to raise financial support.  As part of this process, I have challenged myself to throw away, give away or sell at least one item from the house each and every day.  I make a record here of the items to help keep me accountable and because this process is getting me thinking about things in a new light and I know that if I don't write these things down, they will be lost to me forever. 

So it turns out that in Giving, Throwing and Selling, I am discovering just how complicated my relationship is with THINGS.  I started a month ago today and have barely made a dent in my possessions so far- plenty more shelves to clear and boxes to explore!  Today's entry is a bit different because it spans two days...

Last night Melissa and I went to our small group Christmas party.  We went out to eat with the four other couples and then went back to Karen and Jeff's house for dessert and a "white elephant" gift exchange.  So "white elephant" means junk around your house that you no longer want - so right up my alley.  Now usually, people are told "white elephant" and at least half can't resist going out and spending a couple of dollars on something that the other participants will actually want.  Not our group, apparently.  Each year we play the game where you can steal each others' gifts or choose to unwrap a new one; our folks brought the kind of presents this time that had everyone scrambling to instantly "regift"!  (The only exception really was a "coupon" for a lunch with one of the couples.)   Last night we drew numbers and then one by one unwrapped packages revealing used candles, old books, a dried up coconut, and some bath salts that carried a distinct "old lady" smell!  And that list doesn't even include the junk Melissa and I brought! 

I took some musical spoons - in their original box.  Undoubtedly a collector's item.  And we took a glass jar full of the ingredients for vegetable soup.  It's one of these deals where the various ingredients are layered real pretty in the jar and the whole thing is finished off with some blue gingham material over the lid and a wooden spoon tied on with a ribbon.  It looked so pretty we never did eat it. (I think it was a gift from Melissa's cousin, Angie.)  It was sitting on a shelf in the display cabinet in our kitchen, so it was a perfect candidate for white elephant.

Our small group leader, Steve, was the first to unwrap the soup mix at the party and originally he kind of wanted it.  Then he read the label stuck on the bottom of the jar:  "Best if used by July, 2008".  I maintained that technically, it didn't say it wouldn't be good to eat in 2010 or 2011, just that it was best in early 2008, but Steve decided to trade it away anyhow. 

Somehow, by the end of the night with all the gift swapping, the soup ended up back in our hands.  So while Lee was trying to sneak out of our hosts' (Jeff and Karen's) house without the bath salts, I went and left the soup mix on the kitchen counter.  Jeff was right behind me, though, and put the mix right back in my hands.  So when I walked out, I set the jar in a corner on the porch and Melissa and I made our way to the van.  Karen spotted it there, picked it up and came running after us.  I almost mowed down Keri as I burned rubber to get out of there.



Let me know how it tastes, Steve!

 But it was all for naught - this morning the soup mix was in our mailbox at church!  So as soon as I hit "publish" on this post, I'm going to drive it over to leave it on another porch - the one belonging to its rightful owner:  Steve. 

He opened it. 

It's his. 

How am I supposed to unclutter my house if stuff comes back to me??  Man up!