Confession of a messy mom.

I'm going to let you in on a few little (not-so-) secrets:

I am a mom of three young ladies.

I battle laziness every day (and often lose).

My house is almost always messy, at least in one or two rooms. 

As much as I want my home to look neat and tidy all of the time, it just doesn't. Sometimes, it's because I'm lazy (Proverbs 13:4 comes to mind: "The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich."). Wanting a clean home, but choosing screen time or reading or sewing, doesn't mean I will have an orderly, uncluttered home….

At other times, it's just because life with three daughters happens. The toddler destroys a room like a hurricane; my little artist has a creativity explosion all over the schoolroom. Or I have a sick child and the dishes & laundry just have to wait. Or a friend stops by unexpectedly, needing encouragement...or school takes longer than I planned...or it’s a beautiful day and the girls want to go for a walk with me. Or…

I often used to cut the messes out of the background of pictures I posted and do mad-dash surface cleaning before someone dropped by – or I’d go so far as to not be terribly welcoming to an unexpected guest for fear they’d see my mess, but I’ve been taking baby steps toward being okay when people see the mess. I’m taking the plunge today and inviting you to see what our home looks like when life is actually happening:

Here's a virtual welcome-to-our-home, if you'd showed up at around noon yesterday:

Sometimes, the lunch dishes don't get cleaned up right away.
Sometimes, girls get distracted from their chores by Legos.

A sink full of dishes, and a dishwasher full of dishes that have
been there since the previous evening...
this is so hard for me to admit. But there. Dirty dishes.

People, and their need to wear clothes. Pshhh.
I do 1-2 loads of laundry most days, but it only gets put away
2-3 times a week.

School table = creative art table. The girls sometimes enter
stealth mode and will quietly craft when they are supposed
to be playing in their room...and then forget to clean up. Cringe.

Ok, so the living room isn't actually that bad here. The big girls
are often very helpful and will take about 5 minutes to do a 'quick clean-up'
before lunch.

Either way, sometimes our home is messy. REALLY messy. Sometimes, borderline gross messy:

-sometimes the laundry sits in the washer overnight and then smells kindaaaaa musty. Sometimes the only clean clothes are the ones that have been in the dryer for days.

-the girls’ room, as much as we want to clean it each night before bed, sometimes looks like the closet threw up all over their floor, and beds, and out into the hallway.

-the bathroom trash overflows. 

-dishes get crusty. or slimy. or bubbly. Or there are so many that I can’t find the counter top.

-sometimes the girls will sweep without me asking, because the floors get too messy for even them.

-just keeping up with ordinary chores is sometimes too much; forget the piles and piles of clutter in the schoolroom and on my desk.

We do have a daily chore routine, and we try to follow it daily (see Our Morning Routine), but sometimes chores get overlooked or something comes up.

This may sound silly to you, but it's a freeing confession for me. I've long wanted everyone to think that I've got it together; that I've got this perfect little existence. The motive was noble - to try to give Jesus a good reputation. If people see that my life is awesome, maybe they'll want to follow Jesus, too.

It turns out He doesn't really need my help in the PR department, though.

Also - what kind of message is that?! It's certainly not the gospel. Following Jesus does not ensure a squeaky-clean life. 

Being willing to get up every morning and face my struggles again in the grace that He supplies while choosing to praise Him and His goodness, even when the outlook seems bleak or overwhelming – that is where and how He is magnified in my life.

Being humble enough to explain to my daughters that part of the reason the house is so messy is because sometimes Mommy is just plain old lazy, and that choosing laziness over diligence is a sin, but that the Lord can change my heart concerning that - and training them to not fall captive to it in the first place – He uses that to showcase His patience with me.

Being able to rejoice in the tiny victories – going to bed with no dirty dishes in the sink, or keeping up with the laundry for a couple days in a row, or training the girls (and myself) successfully to enjoy the fruits of a job well done, and extending forgiveness to myself when I falter and pick my leisure time over managing my home well – those are moments when the Lord reminds me that I’m not just teaching my daughters how to succeed but also how to handle their failures graciously because of the forgiveness we have in Christ. 

I am broken. Life is messy. Learning to walk in victory over laziness, selfishness, and pride one day at a time in His strength is more precious to God than me trying to project an image of perfect for His sake.

Boasting in my weakness,

that His power might be seen throughout my life,

for His glory!

~Lisha

[For more on my journey from pride to broken honesty, see my post Intimidation.]

I may be sharing this at one of this encouraging Link-up parties!

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