I know I've been hit or miss with this thing. I wanted to post last week, but I couldn't get my topic together mentally and then the week seemed to slip away from me, but I now have a challenge that I am starting with a friend in the morning and I think I would like to spend time blogging about my process.
Here is the back story: This past week I was feeling defeated about my house not being in the pristine condition I felt it should be in. I mean come on...I'm a stay at home mom, with 3 kids, a husband, and a social calendar that has gotten increasingly active over the past few months, but in my head it made NO SENSE that my house was not in perfect condition. There are times when it is what I like to call "company ready" but more often than not, my company doesn't like to show up with it is actually in that condition. (FYI: unexpected visitors is at the top of my list of things I absolutely loathe)
It's been bad enough at times, that I won't even call maintenance to fix something until I have had a a few days to get the house in presentable order, because I dare not let my maintenance people come in my home and think I am less than a decent homemaker. (there is a bit of sarcasm dripping in my voice just so you know.)
But in all seriousness, it began to take its toll on me, which it does from time to time and I really began to take it personally on a spiritual level. I prayed that God would help me in the area, because I felt like my home was a reflection of my life and my spirit...it could be presentable, but more often than not, it was a mess being protected by my ability to close people out of its walls. I felt very defeated and I just wanted God to show me how to not only overcome the feeling, but solve the issue.
Fast forward to my long awaited Girls' Night with a group of friends...once we got to really talking and giggling, the gloves came off and we got real and deep. We all divulged some part of our lives that showed our "mess", but it was so freeing to hear that other people felt less than perfect. One friend in particular happened to share with me an e-book she came across called 31 Days to Clean: A Martha House the Mary Way. www.amazon.com/dp/B004W3UK4M/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=13867154739&ref=pd_sl_2jdxvxcsl2_e She showed it to me because of the fact that I have been an advocate for being a life-giving Christian and there was a section on how we need to be life-givers. Little did she know that by handing me her cell phone to look at that book, she was answering a prayer for me that was eating me up on the inside.
One of our other friends immediately jumped in to help me figure out how to get the kindle app on my phone and I was able to download the sample. I went home that night and read all 125 of the sample pages and talked to my husband about ordering the whole book. He agreed and I did it, and my friend and I decided Monday morning we would start working this thing together, in an effort to renew our homes and our spirits.
This is at least the 2nd time God has used this woman to show me how not alone I really am in this season of my life and looking at the 2 of us, you would guess our lives were like night and day. (I know that's what I assumed). But, we have so much in common and it's those struggles that can seem so little and maybe even a bit stupid to some, that I feel God has blessed me with her to be the one person who truly understands.
I'm excited to take this journey with her and I am equally as excited to share this journey with all of you. I know there is someone else out there who needs this and is going to benefit from whatever growth I get from this, because they will see themselves in it. I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how well Day 1 of my 31 Days to Clean goes.
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