As I begin to straighten up the living room while the little ones play on the front porch, I am reminded of a recent post from a fellow blogger where she remembers the time when her goal was to at least maintain one room at a time. I decide today that is a good idea and try to clear the small amount of clutter around me. As I finish, I hear the baby stir and go to answer her call.
As I sit down to nurse her, JJ decides to reach for a book off the bookshelf…the middle book…out of a stack of books. Despite my efforts to verbally coach him on how to get it down…this happens.
I tell him it’s OK and I’ll help him clean it up in a minute. I reach for my smartphone to see what the rest of the world is up to and read Amy’s Homeschooling with a Purpose post for today.
As I’m reading I do what she says and I look around and what do I see? A very messy kitchen, a pile of books on the floor, and two little ones each pretending to read a book. All this while nursing this sweet little baby. And I get it for a moment… “If you spend your day striving for a home that looks devoid of family life, you will quickly find yourself devoid of family life.” ~ Amy
This is part of the lessons I’ve been learning lately. My home could be clean right now…but my children would not have been able to spend the morning enjoying the beauty of God’s creation with the fellowship of dear friends.
While I definitely believe order has it’s place, sometimes it’s better to just live and let go because… “Fat souls are better than clean floors.” (Rachel Jankovic)
“Seeking order in your home should never be about appearances because the Lord looks on the heart of your home and cares nothing for your tidy facade.” ~ Raising Arrows
5 comments:
I would never call my grandmother a liar...but she always told me the Bible says 'cleanliness is next to godliness.'
I've checked and it's not in there...even in the NIV. I'm just saying.
I read that same post this morning, and was thinking I would have to quote those same lines on my blog sometime, because they really hit me right now, too. I actually broke down in tears last night because of the mess and my inability to keep up with it. And yet I'm realizing that my frustration with not being able to do all the things I want to do, or to control the chaos is really just selfish discontentment. God has given me these children, this home, this husband, and all these blessings in this particular season of life. My complaining about it not being "my" way is an affront to what He has given me. The good news is that our kids won't remember how clean mommy's kitchen was or whether the laundry was always put neatly away before bedtime, but they will remember whether or not they were our priority. Praying God would grant us both contentment with the frequent mess that we might be able to enjoy our families and homes just as they are :)
@Tony...Nate always reminds mw of that!
@Sarah...Just adopt my summertime philosophy. Go outside and you'll forget it's there AND we get to enjoy making memories!
Oh, fat souls... I love that thought.
Keep being a good mom!
Thank you for this. I felt extremely guilty for this very thing today.
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