Goodbye For Now

This will probably be my last post for a few days, since we move in the morning and I'll be out of town anyway. Last night when I was going through the stuff in my room it occurred to me that I keep the strangest things (movie stubs, ribbons I won in 4th grade, notes from all of my college classes, foreign currency I'll probably never use, random quotes). I have always found it hard to throw things away, and I haven't quite figured out why, but I think it's unhealthy. I mean, some of the stuff has sentimental value, but there are other things I can't part with for fear that "I might need them" at some point or another.

I can't help but think that shows a lack of trust on my part. I don't like to over spiritualize things, but maybe part of my reluctance to throw things away is my way of showing God I don't trust Him to provide. I have this irrational fear that the minute I let go of something, I'll need it. For example, if I throw away those notes from my first English class in college, what happens if I need them in one of my grad classes? Well, hello, God gave me a brain! I didn't get into grad school b/c I take good notes, although that does help; I got into grad school b/c I have a certain degree of intelligence, and for whatever reason, UTK saw something in me that warranted admission into their program. God is not going to let me flounder through grad school; He'll be with me every step of the way, and the help He offers is far more valuable than some notes in a binder. The value I place on these material objects should be overshadowed by the value of the intangible that God offers me everyday--grace, peace, wisdom, truth. Does not His Word say that He has given us everything we need for life and godliness? (See 2 Peter 1:3). So maybe I'll go throw away that poncho I've been saving in case I "need" it...

I hope everyone has a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!

EDIT: Just though you'd all like to know the books I want to read this summer. My list will more than likely expand.

1. Critical Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton
2. An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis (he was a medievalist, you know, which makes him doubly cool)
3. Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway (can you believe I've never read it?)
4. Captivating by John and Stacy Eldredge
5. Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller
6. Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
7. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
8. Persuasion by Jane Austen (the only Austen book I haven't read)
9. Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (July 16, can't wait!)

Anyone have any recommendations?