Sunday Self-Portrait
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 9:36PM Today Mike and I were talking about the house. I was telling him some of the ideas I have had, things that I dream about regarding the house, improvements (at least, I think so), and ways to make it ours. My notions are a combination of aesthetic changes and changes that would help with organization and convenience. Most of what I can envision would require significant monetary investment. Some things could be done inexpensively, some just require time and a more efficient use of our space. Mike shared his dream for our home, too...it was lovely. He spoke of a home that was ordered. A home that would be a place where we could do the things we were called to do as a family working for God's kingdom. I think we both have the same dream for our home; the path to get there is not exactly the same, as is often the case with Mike and I. Ha!
I worked last week, very diligently (except when I was taking a nap), to get our house ready for Michaela's birthday party (Yes, her birthday was in the beginning of January. Once, Christian had a party three months after his birthday, so...improvement!). I felt pretty good about the downstairs and the bathrooms, and great about Michaela's room. The other bedrooms and the master bathroom, though? Still such a wreck. But today, after the conversation with Mike, I started in on Eliana's room. It had gotten quite out of hand. I began with the laundry that I had on her bed, got it folded, and put it all away. Then I tackled her closet.
You know how you can't do [x] until you do [y]? And you can't do [y] until you do [z]? Well...that's how I feel about just about everything that needs to be done in this house. Eliana's closet was no exception. I could hardly walk in there to get pants for her without calisthenics and obstacle-course maneuvering. I took a bunch of stuff out, rearranged, and got it to a point where she could actually get in there and get things out to play with again. I can reach all the clothes, without stretching across bins with clothes for her to grow into, and pulling muscles in my back. I went on to pick up and vacuum her bedroom. I put toys away. I put books away. I put games away. I got the mess down to one table which I put in her room to use as a sewing station. I'll get to that tomorrow.
Bringing order to her stuff made me so happy. I know people think that I am a mess. Okay, I tell people that I am a mess, and I am in so many ways. But I feel like there is this truth screaming in me all the time that I LIKE, REALLY LIKE, ORDER AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE! My silverware drawers always look so very neat! I fluctuate between thinking,"If we can just get to the point where everything is in its place, then I can maintain! I can do it!" and "Hopeless! Hopeless! Hopeless!"
I know that we need to do a better job with the kids, getting them involved, helping them learn to clean as they go. There is so much to that, from teaching them about the practical daily living stuff to how the spiritual stuff is beautifully and wonderfully (and often terrifyingly) intertwined with the ordinary. When Mike and I were talking, he referenced the creation, and how God took this chaotic, swirling mass and brought both order and beauty to be. And isn't that what he is doing with us? Taking the chaos and the mess and the brokenness and making it whole and clean and properly ordered? It doesn't happen all at once (usually). It is a process (note to self: read what you write and remember it), and a lifelong one, at that.
So. Today I took a tiny chaotic corner of our home and tried to rein in the disaster. A little each day? And so it goes...
I'm going to put a cute little pink curtain up under the built-in desk to hide some of the things that have a temporary home under there. It's tidy and it will be concealed. That is not cheating, is it?!
Reader Comments (6)
Yea for you! I need to do the same thing in all of the bedrooms in our house. You are my inspiration!
P.S. I still need to do that mail pile, too. :(
Yay! I'm so happy for you. I am trying to get the motivation to clean (purge) and organize our apartment. We are planning on moving this summer and I know how much easier that will be if I orgainize now.
Oooooh - I'll bet that looking into Eliana's closet feels so good. I love it when order comes out of mess - something I get to experience a LOT because I'm terrible at organizational maintenance too. I always wait until the house is about to implode before I get to it.
Not cheating at all! It's just smart. :^D
Very nicely done!! A little pink curtain sounds perfect--and not cheating at all!!!
I can't believe we are doing the same thing here as well. The car thing threw me off, but I starting a major purge for our move.