Embrace the Mess

I made a decision tonight that I hope I can follow through on. First, I have to set it up with a little confession. I'm a little bit of a freak about our house. It drives me crazy to see the kids eating on the furniture or not picking up after themselves. I'm like a spill psychic. I can see a mess or a spill happening about a minute before they normally happen so I'm usually pretty grumpy about preventing such spills and messes. I know it causes me to be too hard on the kids, but it's so hard for me to let it go. I want our home to be orderly and presentable, but I probably take it too far.

I got to hear Tony Campolo speak tonight and while he was talking I had this vision of my future where our home is perpetually clean. No toys or books scattered around the house. No crayon marks on the walls. No ink marks on the couch. No kool-aid stains on the carpet. No bikes in the driveway. No handprints on the patio door. No food wrappers under the beds or skittles in the couch cushions.

I saw all of this in my head and got extremely depressed. It hit me like a ton of bricks that the very things I rail on about so much and get me hot under the collar are the things I'll really miss when the kids are gone. I said something in church the other day about how things don't need to be absolutely perfect because "this is a church, not a museum." I want to try to adopt the same attitude about my home. I want to live in a home - not a museum.

Don't get me wrong. We need to teach the kids to respect our home and care for the possessions we've been blessed with, but I'm going to make a serious attempt at loosening up. So pray for me as I try to embrace the mess!