My view from here

The kids are with my mom this afternoon. I have a small chunk of time in which to be productive but I don’t know where to start. So I’m writing a blog post. And I’m convincing myself that it’s necessary – that it’s work. Because that’s how I roll. Some people, when they get overwhelmed, get hyperfocused…but me? I get flustered.

 This is me, flustered. 

If you’ll notice Tia’s coat is stratigically placed to cover the dishes in the sink, which it seems pointless to have done since I just told you the dishes are piled in the sink.

*sigh*

Yesterday, as I surveyed my disaster of a home (a home that had, incidentally, been spotless just days before) I felt entirely overwhelmed.  So I sent out an SOS on Facebook.  Because that only seemed natural.

The responses I got ranged from funny (cry publicly until someone decides to help you out, drink heavily and let little magical elves come in and do the work) to poignant (hang in there because time flies and pretty soon you’ll be old, the house will be empty…and it will still be a mess.)

But one response really struck me.  It’s nothing ground breaking – I’ve heard this before and I do know it, but my friend Tina’s word were so sincere and true that I wanted to share them with you.  She said:

“Although we spend most of our time like a pet mouse running round and round on a wheel never seeming to get anywhere, I have seen the fruit of seasoned mothers with older children, reared with responsibility in the love of Jesus. It gives me hope that I will reap much fruit for my labor – it is just not quite harvest time.”

Isn’t that a great word?

Yes, my house is a mess and it will always be a mess.  Yes, there are drawers and cabinets that are literally bursting they are so full.  They practically scream at me to unload and organize them each time I pass, and yet they also remind me that they hold the treasured possessions of my treasured possessions.  And right now my work is to pour into those three tiny lives.

Yes, I can better manage my time so that I can get a few things done at a time (something that goes almost completely against my personality, I should add.  I like to knock it all out at once, not do a little bit.  It’s sort of an all or nothing approach that’s not all that condusive to managing a home with small children…I’m working on it.)  But really, in the end, will it matter if my house is immaculate?  Do I really want to sacrifice the quiet moments when I am pouring into their hearts and ministering to their spirits just so the laundry can be properly put away?

No, I don’t.  And I don’t say that just because I hate putting away laundry.  Well…maybe I do.

Today, I choose to put aside the gloom and flustered-idity (mm-hmm, that’s exactly what I said) of my circumstances. Today I choose to rejoice in the few moments of solitude and go about my work joyfully, despite the fact that there is more than I could ever hope to accomplish.  Today I choose to enjoy the moment and not wish it away.

And I encourage you to do the same.

(Although, if I’m being honest, I have to say that I’m kinda holding out hope that magical elves do appear in my house armed with Comet and a toilet bowl brush…but that’ll probably never happen.)

Now, I’m off to accomplish the one things that I can do in my short amount of time and it really is something I must do.  I’m going to take a shower.

And empty the dishwasher.

Yay me!