Downsizing and Blogging

Time for some new blogs.  I am continuing to downsize our household.  I have kept all of my college and seminary class files and papers from 1989-1994.  For several years I kept all of the books, but books are heavy.  My shelves were overflowing.  So perhaps ten years ago I started unloading my  books.  I read through them one more time, then made the decision to either keep a book for future reading, or pass the book along.  Most of the books got passed along, usually through the means of preacher workshops on our campgrounds or at retreats.  It took about five years to work through that downsizing.  

I chose to hang onto my class files because they had my personal investment of time in them.  My research, my notes, my class work submissions.  I know when I am gone, no one else will want those files, so I am now starting to go through them.  If I find anything of value to share through my blog, I will put it in electronic format, post it, and then discard the remaining contents of the file.  If I free up drawers in my file cabinets, I will one day unload the file cabinets themselves!  Lightening my load, leaving less behind for others to have to deal with.

I'll be blogging on my classes in the order I took them.  My very first Lee College (now Lee University) class I took was in the fall of 1989, "Crisis Intervention Counseling".  I had come through my bout with depression, and wanted to be able to help others.  Cleveland Helpline was a phone line service offered to those who needed someone to talk to.  It was free and confidential.  The volunteers that staffed Helpline were trained through classes such as this one I took.  It gave me two levels of certification to qualify me to be a listener.  There were backup counselors that were psychologists, pastors, social workers and other professionals who were on call for those who needed more extensive counseling.  

So for my first college class blog, I will be posting my paper on Depression.  As I was putting it into Word format yesterday, I was taken back to that time in my life.  So many memories, some sad, but I was reminded how God brought me through that storm in my life.  He was there for me, He'll be there for anyone who will turn and seek His face.  

"For I know the plans I have for you,"  says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you," says the Lord.