Summary: A light hearted look at the baggage we carry. When we are supposed to be new creations.
Style: Dramatic/comedy Duration: 5 minutes
Actors: Husband and Wife
Scripture: Isaiah 9:6-7
Script
M - There is just so much stuff in this house. Why? It’s driving me crazy.
D - Me too. I thought you said that you were going to clean it out.
M - I did. Just last week I took a van load of stuff to Goodwill. But you can’t even see that I took anything.
D - Maybe if we just organized it better.
M - But even when we do that it just doesn’t stay. The kids get it out and the next thing I know it’s all a mess again.
D - Do you want a professional cleaner to come in?
M - What good would that do? It’s not dirty? We’d still have to clean up all this clutter in order for them to clean.
D - Stop buying things.
M - I did.
D - What are you talking about? What were all those bags you brought home last week?
M - Food! Do you know how much food it takes to feed 3 growing boys?
D - A lot!
M - I think the saying is eating us out of house and home, but if only they could consume some of this stuff for us.
D - What if we go through it together, maybe we could figure out what to do with things.
M - I would love that. I just get so overwhelmed by it. I make a small change but within a little bit it just seems to fill back in.
D - What is this stack of stuff?
M - It looks like kids' school papers.
D - So get rid of them.
M - And incur the wrath of a child who worked hard on that?
D - What do you mean?
M - The last time I threw away a paper it was someone’s math homework and I had to dig through the trash to find it again. But he turned it in, covered in coffee grounds and eggshells. I’m not doing that again.
D - Ok, what about this stack?
M - It’s something I want to use for craft projects. I want to do something with them, I just don’t know what. If I throw it away, a week later I’ll have some amazing idea and wish I had it.
D - Ok, how about this. Is this important?
M - I don’t know. It was a screw I found under the couch and you said I should hang on to it.
D - Oh yah, don’t get rid of that. You never know when you need a screw that size.
M - Ok, what about this stack? Unmatched socks. Do you still want them?
D - Well I hang on to them so if one of my other ones get worn out, I get rid of the one with a hole and presto a new mate.
M - Ok, these stained shirts?
D - They can be work shirts.
M - But do you need 8 of them?
D - Yes, you never know what might happen. What about this stack of jeans of yours?
M - Those are my skinny jeans.
D - Your what?
M - My jeans that fit me if I lose weight.
D - Ok. Let’s try a different area of the house.
M - That sounds good. What about this drawer? It has the old cheese slicer that we can’t find new blades for. Can we get rid of it?
D - No, hang on to it. What if the new one breaks?
M - I think we have a problem.
D - What? Is the new cheese slicer broken already?
M - We get new stuff to replace the things that are broken or don’t work or don’t fit, but we never get rid of the old.
D - Well we need back ups.
M - But I think we have back ups to the back ups. We’ve got to get rid of some of this old stuff.
D - Maybe you’re right, but it just seems like we might need it some time.
M - But maybe we need to trust that the new is good and will work.
D - I feel like there is a lesson in there somewhere.
M - What do you mean?
D - It says in the Bible that we're a new creation, but it just seems like there is so much old stuff hanging around cluttering up our lives.
M - What are you talking about?
D - If I’m a new creation, why do I still have trouble with my fear?
M - I’ve asked that same question about me. Why do I still struggle with overeating? It seems like that shouldn’t be a problem any more. I shouldn’t be turning to food when I’m upset or have a stressful day. Why is it still such a struggle? It seems like that is the old man.
D - Well we know that even Jesus was tempted, so we know that we’ll still have temptations.
M - But this seems different than temptations. We’ve been given the mind of Christ, so how do we change our thought patterns to stop this behavior?
D - I don’t know, maybe we turn back to our old patterns of living, like getting angry over little things or turning to food, because it feels comfortable and safe.
M - Like a well worn old shirt? It’s ragged and stained, but we just can’t let go of it. Maybe we are hanging on to the old stuff because we don’t believe that the new is good?
D - Or maybe because we think we need a back up plan?
M - Or we want to fall back on the old, known ways? We want things to be different, but it’s just so hard. Going back is so much easier.
D - True
M - So then what?
D - I don’t know.
M - Kind of feels like real life. We’re still stuck with all this clutter that we don’t need, but we don’t want to get rid of, but it’s also driving us crazy and we want it gone.
D - So clean it out.
M - Haha sounds so simple. Maybe we can’t.
D - What do you mean we can’t? Do you want to bring in a professional?
M - I think we already did. Maybe we just need to give Him access to help us clean out this clutter.
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© Michelle Patterson. All rights reserved.
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