When I opened my eyes this morning I sat up expecting to breath in the sweet silence of the morning and just have a moment to myself before my day got going. Instead I sat up and saw a mess....laundry all over the floor, toys strewn about from Griffin's birthday, trash on my night stand, and junk spewing out into the hallway. When I let my mind wonder down the stairs it didn't get any better....I remembered that I didn't clean up the kitchen from dinner the night before and if we're being honest the day before that too.....my floors need scrubbed and vacuumed, and I am pretty sure that not only the appearance of my house is messy, but the rest of my life seems to be a little messy too....
Thankfully I ran into this little gem in my mommies devotional the other night...
"I see that even though we made our fair share of messes. Messy time went hand in hand with making the memories we treasure the most. Being a mom is not for the purist. It's messy work. It's getting your hands dirty.
I wonder if the same can't be said of our relationship with God. If we go through life trying to keep everything together, afraid to make a mess, we can miss out on the fun, the wonder, the adventure of life. It is only when we dare to make a mess the we truly live, and it is only when we truly live that we our faith has a chance to grow. Nothing worth doing is ever easy, and so we can expect to make messes. In fact, messes can be a sign that we are not holding back-on our families, ourselves, and on our God.
Messes are nothing more than the by-product of living life abundantly."
As I sat around and thinking about and overwhelmed by the messes all around me, I realized that I am in a time that my heart and home have serious need for God. I need him to come in here with his cleaning supplies and get things all dusted off and vacuumed up. I need to be pumped up to dig back in and start again. I also need that reminder that these messes, day to day craziness, and little pit falls are the memories that build up strength and us as a family. After realizing that my tiny little baby is somehow 2 this last week, every mess, window smudge, dirty dish, and misplaced toy has got to be a reason to celebrate that we are a family. We are alive, together, and in love with each other and living like messes are nothing more than the by-product of living life abundantly is the only way for us to keep going.
5 comments:
Gosh, sounds really messy at your house. Sounds like you need a live-in maid, or perhaps a purely platonic sister-wife?
*laughing hysterically*
No, but really, I like this. I am a mess all the time, and I am getting okay with it...cause that's just life.
Loving you...
this is so encouraging, i love it!
i love your picture up top too. :)
miss you guys!
Love that someone else's house is as messy as mine... but love EVEN MORE your outlook on the mess. Thanks for the reminder about God using our messiness!!
It is so true! The only times I ever feel like I am alive, and really "OK" are when I allow myself to be a mess, or I risk knowing something may end up a mess, but it feels right. God always puts everything back together in the end. Literally, or otherwise. It's not easy to deal with messes, nor is it fun, and frankly, I would rather avoid being a mess.... (which also leads to problems)
BUT even if you try to avoid messiness and keep things in perfect order ... the mess will still get to you!! As you said, if only if cleaned itself up... maybe this is why we both want cleaning "people" and think they are a true GOD SEND :)
We are all a mess when it comes down to it! Embrace the messes, because how would we learn to be "clean" without them :)
Love you and love this post!! I might have to share it.
AS usual your posts are inspiring and remind me that my own messy house is representative of a house full of busy, messy, loving people that would rather be together than be worred about being clean and organized. :-)
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