{How to have it all together}

I am absolutely NOT an authority on having "it" all together.  I actually have been struggling lately with "it" and its not togetherness.  I know we all have those days or weeks where it just seems to overwhelm us and we wish the IT would fit back in the box we have for it.  The "it" may be your house's order, your balance between home and work, your balance between family and yourself.  It can be a variety of any of the pressures we face as moms, wives, daughters, friends, etc.  When we feel chaos in our lives we can usually blame the "it" and how it has snuck out of its box again.

Until about 2 days ago, this was our playroom.

I avoided going upstairs because I didn't want to face this room.  I would shield my eyes from the room because it caused so much stress in my mind that I just couldn't face it.

You see, this is my "it".  I realized that I despise disorder in my home.  It may be my type-A personality or it may be some slight OCD that I have but I strongly dislike things to be out of order.  That doesn't work so well when you have a 3 & 5 year old. 

As I was cleaning up the mess, I was having an internal struggle with myself because I knew I wasn't going to be able to get it perfect.  I didn't have the matching baskets, the right storage, the shelves I needed to make it work and on and on.  I almost just threw everything in the closet to hide it and call it good because it just wasn't going to be good enough and here are the 2 things I learned from this process.

1. Slightly less than perfect is good enough for me.  This is my new mantra.  I have lowered my expectations.  I know that sounds bad, but I think it's actually healthy to reevaluate what your expectations are and be honest with yourself if they aren't realistic.  You see, my expectations are way too high and so I am constantly disappointing myself and more sadly others are disappointing me.  When I have unrealistic expectations of how things should look or how they should be organized I am setting myself and others up for failure.  When I don't achieve my unrealistic expectations I beat myself up and get down on myself and this is what causes the unrest in my life.  So I have resolved to let some things go.  Instead of worrying about the little things I am beginning to remind myself that it doesn't have to be perfect, that slightly less than perfect is good enough for me.
2. Stuff can cause unrest in our lives.  I'm not talking specifically about physical stuff although that applies too, but the "it" can and will cause unrest in our lives if we let it.  As I was cleaning up the playroom tempted to give up because it wasn't going to be good enough and tempted to put it all into the closet I was forced to think about my relationship with the Lord. 

          You see, we all have that mess in our lives just like the mess in my playroom.  It's the icky stuff that we want to shield our eyes from when we have to walk past it.  It's the stuff that we keep hidden from our eyes because it's just too much to look at and face.  And it's the stuff that keeps us from having peace in our lives.  It is called sin.  Most people think of sin as a bad act that we do something that we can physically see, but that's not the case.  Sin can be anything from focusing on yourself to get the job done (pride), to working really hard to please your boss and make more money (greed), to thinking you are not pretty enough, thin enough, or good enough (doubt of God's creation).  I've been guilty of all of these plus more than I have room to share here.

When we feel that unrest in our lives, it's always a good time to look at what is causing that unrest and most likely it is the result of some sin in our lives.  God is Peace.  When we are focused on Him and His plan for our lives there is no place for unrest.  As soon as we focus on the stuff, the unrest creeps back in.  For me, it's a daily surrender that I have to face.  I can't push the stuff into the closet, It's still there.  I also can't be perfect.  There is no place for perfection in my life.  It just isn't possible.  I have to be accepting of that and know that it's ok.  How lucky that the God that I serve is so forgiving when I forget these things?  His mercies are new everyday! Have you accepted yours today?