Garbage, Good, Better, Best

Over this last week, the kids and I were able to get away to Florida to visit my family.  Unfortunately, The Hubs is right in the middle of a large project and was not able to come.  As much as we missed him, some good things happened on our trip.

The big thing for me was a chance to get out from under my giant to-do list for a bit.  I have such a tendency to get bogged down in all the things I'm supposed to be doing and feeling like I'm not getting to enough of them.  When that happens, I loose track of the more important things in my life.  That was the whole issue that led to this blog.

Even better was, with over twenty-five hours worth of driving and nights without barn chores (yes, that's how I spend my evenings after the kids go to bed), I was able to listen to some good podcasts, namely Living on the Edge and Focus on the Family, and read a book (well, most of it) by Kay Wills Wyma called Cleaning House: A Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement.

Between the three of these, I have been able to take a breath and realize that it's okay.  It's okay that the gardens and house are not ready for a Better Homes and Gardens photoshoot.  It's okay that my kids aren't perfect all of the time.  It's okay that I don't make every meal from scratch, or sometimes at all.  What is important is that my husband and children know that they are loved.  I think I've done a pretty good job in that department.  And not that I have been perfect in this area.  Who has?  But perfection is not what is required.  Love is.

Now that this Humongous weight has been lifted, I can move on to some of the other things I have heard and read to maybe improve some of the other areas.
The main one that has been bothering me is the disorganization/messiness of the house. And not just for myself.  I feel bad for The Hubs coming home from a long day at work and not being able to relax because there is more stuff that needs to be done when he gets home.  I feel bad for The Boy because he needs to be able to invite friends over to develop those close friendships I want for him and right now he can't.  I feel bad that we built our house with the intention of making it a place where God can use us and my Gift of hospitality but have yet to really use it.

So putting the ideas of teaching kids to be helpful and put others first And that it doesn't do us any good to have all this stuff if we can't find it or don't have room to use it... Josh and I are going to spend a good bit of the summer getting our house in shape.

Garbage, Good, Better, Best

These are the signs/bins I'm going to make.  We are going to toss the junk, donate the stuff that is good but we don't need, and keep the best. We'll probably keep stuff that falls in the "Better" category for now. Even throwing away the old broken stuff is hard for my little hoarder.

Some of the encouraging thoughts I have come across in my reading/listening lately:
1. Sometimes God says no to something "good" so he can say yes to something better later.
2. God wants the Best for us, not second best.
3. Of stuff and things to do: Why do we waste so much time, energy and money on things that are not truly fulfilling to us, don't enrich our lives and sap our energy?  You don't have to do or have everything. Choose a few and really enjoy them.
4. Of how to prioritize time: I don't have to do every activity presented. There are other people who can do my job or fill the spot in that group. There is NOT another person who can be the mom/dad to MY kids and the husband/wife to MY spouse. The difference between need and want. The other groups/people may want my time, but my family NEEDS my time.

Choose what is BEST in your life and get rid of the clutter that's keeping you from it.