Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Word of the Week: Abundance

August 13, 2014 By Sandra Heska King

abundance

abundance  – noun \ə-ˈbən-dən(t)s\ – noun

: a large amount of something
: affluence, wealth

“Abundance is the process of letting go; that which is empty can receive.” ~ attributed to Bryant H. McGill

 

abundance

 

I still have too much stuff.

Trash Bags R Us.

It’s the easiest way to clean and declutter. Of course, not all bags are destined for the garbage. I’ve set some aside for Goodwill. And I’ve labeled some Two Men and a Truck boxes for a church-wide garage sale.

How many sets of dishes do two people (with occasional guests) need anyway? How many outfits does one person need? Do I really need all these needlework pieces created 180 supermoons ago? And chickens. Where did I get this chicken obsession? Oh yeah. Now I remember. It all started when I visited a friend who had them. Then I went crazy at Cracker Barrel.

I’ve even been looking at tiny homes. Maybe we could hide one at the edge of a hidden lake. As long as I didn’t have to climb up to and down from a loft bed. But where would I put my books? (These are kind of nice, too, but I’m distracted again.)

I’ve even been eyeing this Boyd’s Charming Angel Collection, all eight of them that my son gifted me. Maybe I could sell these sweet girls to help fund my December trip to Haiti.

(On second thought, I just looked them over to see who was who. They include Aurora, the guardian angel of dreams; Alessandra, the guardian angel of hope; and–get this–Della Robia, the guardian angel of abundance. So maybe not.)

But really, who needs abundant collections of trinkets when God is collecting an abundance of tears?

Most of the time I’m grateful for my abundance, content in this place God’s placed me.

Some of the time I feel guilty over my over-abundance because I’ve seen poverty–and realize I’m the one who is poor.

Some of the time I’m discontented because of my perceived lack of abundance.

I think I want more stuff. Stuff I don’t need on a planet peppered with so many needs.

More and more of the time, my stuff smothers me. Its power paralyzes me with its demands, holds me hostage at dust point. It taunts me at the keyboard, assaults me with reminders to care for it, and I end up caring for nothing while I sit frozen in Facebook or tied to Twitter or crushed in Candy.

I need to let more stuff go so I can let more words loose.

Because people are crying and dying.

The abundance of pain and evil in this world overwhelms me.

But abundance does not insulate us.

So I pray that out of the abundance of drivel I’m able to spill on this screen at least one well-chosen syllable or phrase might hit its mark. Not as a bullet of death but as an arrow of hope. That somehow I can be a stretcher-bearer, a friend with a word-woven mat. And sometimes I can even touch a hand here or stroke a cheek there.

And so I fill a bag here and a box there.

But I still have too much stuff.

What would be the hardest thing for you to give up if you chose to downsize?

Word Count: 516

In the stillness,

Sandy

 

In Your Own Words

thought provoking thursday

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Blog, Word of the Week

Comments

  1. Elizabeth Stewart says

    August 14, 2014 at 2:19 am

    Your post sounds like my week! For some reason my response to all the horrific things going on in the world is to pray and then to get rid of my excess stuff because of some weird guilt connection of my overabundance in comparison to their suffering. (I’m not even making sense to myself with that sentence, but I hope you can decipher what I’m trying to say.)

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 14, 2014 at 10:42 am

      I understand perfectly, Elizabeth.

  2. TheSoulJah says

    August 14, 2014 at 6:10 am

    It’s a word in my life. Your think is so good about “ABUNDANCE”. I really appreciate it. Your article is fulfill in a lot of information.

    If you want to learn about valuable life, visit “www.thesouljah.com”
    Thank you!!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:50 pm

      Thanks so much for coming by.

  3. Charity Singleton Craig says

    August 14, 2014 at 8:09 am

    Sandy – What a wonderful word to consider. I, like you, find myself on all sides of abundance. I have too much. I have too little. I am wealthier than most people in the world. I feel so poor. Steve and I were just talking last night about how much stuff can accumulate when we have places to put it. We are getting ready to move to a smaller house, and as such, we will need to divest ourselves of some of this marvelous stuff we thought we couldn’t live without. I think we’re going to be just fine.

    Thanks for joining me!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 14, 2014 at 10:45 am

      For years I bought more stuff in which to organize my stuff. How crazy is that? I KNOW you’re going to be just fine. There’s freedom in the shedding… and room to breathe.

      I love this word challenge you’ve offered, Charity.

  4. Angel @ Finding The Inspiring says

    August 14, 2014 at 11:04 am

    I love how you can turn a phrase that turns a heart toward truth… (i.e. describing the way stuff “holds me hostage at dust point”)

    I get how you feel, and I feel it too. I want to get rid of the clutter in my life so God can fill it up with the stuff that matters.

    Needless to say, your arrow found it’s mark with me today. Thank you.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:51 pm

      You’ve made my day, Angel. Thanks so much.

  5. Amy B. Pederson says

    August 14, 2014 at 11:18 am

    Oh my goodness. I’m so with you on this. Perhaps we need to let go of stuff so we have more room for Him and His work in us.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:51 pm

      Amen to that, Amy. Empty to fill.

  6. Lorretta says

    August 14, 2014 at 11:28 am

    If I’ve never said it before, I must say it now that I really appreciate your heart and the way that you think. The way you think and feel affects the way I think and feel and works to keep my feet on the right path again and again. Having just come back from 3 weeks in Africa, this particular word speaks to me but not in the “typical” American sense… there is a multiplied Kingdom abundance in my soul that makes everything else feel like “clutter”.. know what I mean? I think you do. Thanks!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:52 pm

      Everything else feels like clutter. Yes, I think I know what you mean, Lorretta. I’m so grateful for you.

  7. Lisa notes says

    August 14, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic myself lately, Sandy. God gives to us abundantly so we can share with others, not so we can keep it to ourselves. I have a friend in need that I want to give to, but I don’t think she’ll want to take it. I’m praying I can bless her with the gift in a way that doesn’t offend her pride. (And I wonder if God ever has to work around OUR pride when he wants to give us things!) Thanks for sharing this.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:54 pm

      I’m praying your friend will be willing to receive. Sometimes that’s so much harder than the giving. And I’m thinking yes, it’s often pride that gets in the way.

  8. Heather @ My Overflowing Cup says

    August 14, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    I can relate to what you have written about. I often walk in the tension of feeling like we are lacking because we don’t have the things the world says we should and feeling guilty for what I do have when so many others don’t even have basic necessities. I’m not sure that there is a solution, but just thinking about these issues is a good place to start. Thanks for the post!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:57 pm

      I don’t know if there’s a solution, either, Heather. Except maybe to keep counting our gifts and holding them lightly? Learning to be content in times of poverty and plenty?

  9. Diana Trautwein says

    August 14, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    Man, I get this. Wish I didn’t, but I DO. Are you truly downsizing? Or just sifting and sorting? Contemplating a move to a smaller place??

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:58 pm

      I don’t think downsizing is happening any time in the near future. Just dreaming. And always sifting and sorting. Hoping something doesn’t happen that others have to come in and do it for me.

  10. Barbie says

    August 14, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    I’m overflowing with abundance, the kind that I need to put in a bag (or several) and haul away. Loved the quote!

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 9:59 pm

      😀 😀 😀

  11. Betty Draper says

    August 15, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    I need to let more stuff go so I can let more words loose.

    Because people are crying and dying.

    The abundance of pain and evil in this world overwhelms me.

    But abundance does not insulate us

    Gonna post this little gem. Powerful post…one of the things living in two third world countries has taught me is not to be own by stuff. It will smother me, has smothered me before and I have to be determined and focus not to let it happen. There is a huge gap between needs and wants and any of God’s children have what they need for He has promised to supply our need which can be put into one word, Jesus. Again powerful post.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      August 15, 2014 at 10:02 pm

      Thanks so much, Betty. On my first trip to Haiti, I remember one of our team members saying she had to come to Haiti to find Jesus. Haiti taught me often there can be way more joy in poverty than in plenty–fewer distractions.

  12. Sarah Donegan says

    August 18, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    I have been loading up trash bags to donate this past week. It is freeing and shameful at the same time. I am so over new stuff.

  13. Lyli @3-D Lessons for Life says

    September 21, 2014 at 11:54 pm

    Sandy,
    Thanks for linking up this post at Thought-Provoking Thursday. I pinned this to the Thought-Provoking Thursday Pinterest board… I loved the verse you picked, the word you chose, and the wisdom you shared. So thankful for you! xo

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

“This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” “This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” ~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson in “Ode to a Butterfly”
🦋
We pulled all the milkweed because it just could not support all the caterpillars. They were eating it bare and most of them died because they ran out of food. This one butterfly found this one lone volunteer.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright futur "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ E.B. White (as quoted on today's page in my Franklin Planner)
"May you experience each day as a sacred gift wove "May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder." ~ John O'Donohue in "For Presence" from To Bless the Space Between Us
🌴
Tri-colored heron stalking breakfast in my backyard.
“. . neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes “. .  neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes. They are moving in a week. They say a family from Belarus bought the house. I hope they don’t care much for mangoes.”
**
“Beautiful Sweet Things” at https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/
"People do not grow old. When they cease to grow t "People do not grow old. When they cease to grow they become old.” ~ Emerson

It's been a while since I've written anything on my blog. Like 3 years. But I just wrote my first post on Substack. Come see?

https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/p/ten-years-ten-things
Spent a couple hours this morning with friends fro Spent a couple hours this morning with friends from @spanishriverchurch picking up beach trash. Little bits of colored and clear plastic, big bits of plastic, bottle caps, broken glass, strings, ropes, straws, socks, fast food containers, paper, cigarette holders and filters—and a couple unmentionables. Took extra care around the turtle nests. Last count was about 70 pounds, but there were also some bigger things like an abandoned chair and a plastic tent. And a big piece of burlap or something with a fishing lure and giant hook attached. D found a Macy’s gift card that he almost tossed in his bucket. But we brought it home to check the balance—$24.60! We should be able to turn that into something useful for someone. 😊
H Already dead, I am living my afterlife here in t H
Already dead, I am
living my afterlife
here
in the form of a human.
~ Xueyan from Time Peels All to Original White

Thanks to @tspoetry for introducing me to this beautiful collection via an Every Day Poems selection.
The cats attacked the window all night. The dog wo The cats attacked the window all night. The dog woofed all night. This morning we discovered the would-be burglar imprisoned between the screen and the glass on our bedroom slider. 

When I stepped out to release it (no bail), I was surprised by this brief bit of backyard beauty.
For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in