Today turned out to be the most wonderful day of the year for my youngest daughter and I. No, it’s not Christmas. It isn’t even either one of our birthdays.
It was “spring” cleaning and the truth is, it was anything but wonderful. I found that my daughter had stuff collecting everywhere imaginable. It was a hot mess!
But, how did we arrive at this point? I’ve taught my children to clean up their rooms daily, so I was baffled. Upon inquiry, my discoveries included the following: there was the cardboard box that had to be saved because it had potential for a future art project, there were unused toys which had to be kept because she would play with them one day, and THEN, there was the partially inflated latex pink balloon that had to be saved because it was from a special party she attended. I want to say I was smiling throughout this discussion, but I’m certain gray hairs were sprouting by the dozen.
The disorderly bedroom made me think about myself. I have good intentions. I wake up every morning with the plan to spend time with God and then, set about my day with focus and discipline. But I find that quickly crumbles as I become distracted. As I get out of bed, I feel an ache in my body and I complain that I’m getting old. As I watch my kids fix their breakfast, guilt tells me that as a stay at home mom, I should be whipping up a gourmet meal for them. As I look in the pantry and realize I forgot to buy onions to make dinner, failure is echoing in my thoughts. Before I know it, my mind is cluttered and I am lacking peace. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong by allowing these thoughts to take residence in my mind. However, chaos began to brew as a result of not taking such thoughts captive as 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to.
If you find yourself like me with a cluttered mind:
- ask God for help: “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2 NLV)
- stay in His Word, so that you when your are tempted with such thoughts, you can declare His truths: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)
3 bags full of trash and 5 hours later, we can now say that my daughter’s room is no longer full of clutter. And she and I are both smiling now :)
~Joyce
