I held a baby shower at my home for my sister-in-law. It was a wonderful time of fun and fellowship and food. I especially liked visiting with cousins that I haven’t seen since the last baby shower. We had a good time catching up on each others’ lives and family.

I had spent the entire day before giving my house a thorough spring-cleaning. I vacuumed, washed walls, scrubbed floors, cleaned toilets, and even cleaned out the cupboard under the sink.

The house looked good; my floors sparkled, my carpets were free from dirt, my walls were washed of children’s fingerprints. Everything looked good – all except my leather couches. Since adopting three cats (three cats with claws) my chocolate-brown leather couches have taken a beating. These felines love to race up and over the furniture in hot pursuit, and now my couches have deep gashes and scratches from top to bottom.

As one aunt looked at me with sorrowful eyes and asked why I neglected to protect my furniture from the cats, the only response I had was, “What does it matter in eternity?”

I wasn’t trying to be bold or saucy. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just feel that some things are not worth worrying about. When I die I cannot take my couches with me. So as the author Richard Carlson says in, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff with your Family, I try not to sweat the small stuff.

Things that do matter to me are relationships, not possessions. I used to worry a lot about how my furniture looked, but now I don’t spend as much time being bothered by these things. Instead I tend to ask, have I made a difference in someone’s life today? I’d rather think about how I’ve furthered the kingdom of God, than stress over whether the kids have made their beds today.

I don’t intend to have a flippant attitude. And I still like to keep a clean home. I just hope to measure this world and what I do in it up against eternity. When it comes to such matters as this, I like to ask, “Will it matter in eternity?”

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? (Matthew 16:26 NIV)

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Things that do matter to me are relationships, not possessions.