a mess, or life in progress?
Why is messiness a theme in my life? Why do I have piles? Why is there a constant influx and outflux (is that a word?) of laundry, paper, food, and Other Stuff?
Perspective. There are always different ways to see the same mess. The mess on the chair means that I washed and dried the whites and they are waiting patiently to be carried upstairs. The mess on the other chair means that the sweet boy threw his backpack there to go to the skatepark. The mess in the kitchen means that My People made macaroni and cheese all by themselves when I went to court to pay a speeding ticket (another story.) The mess in the laundry room means that my people wore clean clothes again and dirtied them. The mess at the table means my homeschoolers were doing their work, making progress on their editing and copywork (before they got in a water fight and soaked the iphone5; another story). The mess by my bed means that I’m reading good books, growing as a person, and getting God’s perspective on my life. The mess on my dresser, that means I wore some stuff that doesn’t have to be washed yet (wow) and it needs to be put back in the closet (when I find time in the next week or two, or I’ll probably just wear it again before that happens!)
What about the mess on the floor in the kids rooms? Oh, that’s left over from a food fight a few years ago, that somehow included cayenne pepper and soy sauce. Hopefully that carpet will be replaced soon and the smell can go with it. But, it was probably a fair consequence for that bad behavior. At least the butter was easy to wipe off of my daughters dresser.
The mess in my car? That’s from taking my boys and their people to church and stopping to get sonic breakfast toasters on the way. The mess of skateboards that you might trip over when you enter our front door, that’s evidence of the active skater people that live here.
The mess of papers on the counter? That means I’m working on stuff like paying bills, registering cars, applying for scholarships, writing graduation cards, and shopping the Free People catalog (another story).
The mess in my purse? Huh. That just means I’ve been busy running here and there taking care of my people and haven’t gotten the chance to clean out receipts from the days of taking care of my people.
Every mess is evidence. It is evidence of living life to the full. It can be a source of irritation or a source of celebration. We get to choose. Are we going to be thankful for the messes that we are able to clean up? Or are we going to complain and begrudge our people for living?
Life is messy. Embrace the mess and keep living. Or be a stress case, yell at the messers, and whip the people in to shape. Your choice. Sacrifice the relationship for the perfect environment, or choose a peaceful environment and join the process of making messes, cleaning up (sometimes), and making messes again.
Life is too short to worry about messes.
One of the books by my bed is the Best Yes (Making wise decisions in the midst of endless demands) by Lysa Terkeurst. Check it out for a new perspective on what is most important!
http://thebestyes.com/the best yes
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[suffusion-the-author display='description']2 Responses to “Exposing our Mess: How do you see it?”
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Yes! It’s a lot easier when my little people are all grown up and out of the nest to not have a mess–but for me, mess has always meant progress towards a goal.