Real Life Happens

So, if you come to my house unplanned, this is what you might find...

Now, I have to say that I don't let it look like this every single day. I do try to pick up and declutter every day. But, for some reason, I haven't been very motivated to stay on top of it this week. Plus, with us being home two extra days for "snow", there was more pile up going on than normal. One reason I am posting this mess is so that I can remember these days and share them with Grace and Lyla when they're moms with little kids at home.

I am choosing to believe this is somewhat normal for most people. But, we don't let the company see this when they come over for dinner or on Sunday nights for Life Group. I work like crazy to get it "ready" when I know someone is coming. It's silly. Why don't we let people see who we really are? This is the other reason I am posting this. I am tired of everyone pretending to have "it" all together and then struggling in private with problems/issues/etc. Doesn't God want us to share our burdens with others? Help each other through hard times? I believe He does and I believe that we (Christians) don't take advantage of this great blessing He intended for us to have in each other. We hide behind our tidy houses and cute outfits and appear to be in control when we're really not. This year I want to let God be in control. I am a perfectionist! I want to control every little aspect of my life and the lives of those in my life (which is dumb, I know). Through a Bible study I have recently completed, I have realized that I am not trusting God with my life and the lives of my family when I do this. There are lots of negative consequences to this. I won't go into all of that here. I just want to say that I'm not perfect. One of my resolutions for 2010 is to "let go" of the control I think I have. I want to trust that God will get me through whatever comes along and I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do and how I'm going to do it in the future (five minutes or five years). I want to let God control my attitude, joy and life in general. This is hard for me! I'm not saying I won't clean my house anymore. That was just an example. I'm just saying that my goal is to not stress over the details that I can't control. I'm going to do the best I can and then let it go. I could go on about this forever, but I think that's enough for now.

Here's a picture of what motivates me to change...

I want to teach them by example (and by words) how to trust God on a daily basis. They're worth changing for!