I have a problem. I’m a bit of an OCD neat freak. And my family is not.
I’m a “picture-perfect” kind of guy who literally walks down the hallway of our house and daily straightens the family photos.
From what my wife and kids say, nothing brings out the “military sergeant dad” in me more than when I say “It’s time to clean the house.”
I like our home to be constantly clean, orderly, and neat.
However, I also love having a family around — this includes a wife who doesn’t share my neat-freak obsession, two teenage boys (enough said), a toddler (who literally gets into EVERYTHING), and babysitting kids on-site five days a week.
“Cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.”
Nothing more true has ever been said. Lol.
So here’s a few things I remind myself of to deal with life’s messy situations…
Messes Have Meaning
“Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox.” Proverbs 14:4
While we serve a perfect God of order (I Corinthians 14:33), he has never promised a mess-free life (John 16:33). In fact, quite the opposite. There is “much increase” through the mess.
All throughout Scripture, we see that God is using all things, even the messy ones, for our good and his glory (Romans 8:28).
Messes Are Temporary
In our basement, we have sign hanging on our wall that says, “Please excuse the mess… we live here.” (I’ve always secretly despised that sign.)
While I was cleaning this past week, I saw it crooked on the wall and began to fix it.
However, I decided to leave it that way, because it just seemed to make more sense. That sign by its very nature shouldn’t be straight.
It is a small reminder to me when I deal with the messes that “It’s all going to be okay.” This is one thing I can give up now that I can always focus more on later.
One day when my kids are grown and out of the house, I’ll have all the free time in the world to keep my house in tip-top shape.
Just like, one day, God is going to remove the mess of this broken life and make all things new.
I just have to be reminded that today may not be that day.
Messes Make Memories
When I think back to many of the best memories from our kids’ childhoods, many of them included “a necessary mess.”
- My son and I’s mess of a camping trip that turned out to be one of our best moments together.
- A no-plates-or-silverware spaghetti night (It was very hands-on). Our kids still talk about that one to this day.
- Or the time on family vacation when baby Spencer was sitting on my shoulders and the unthinkable happened… all the way down my back.
Messes are bound to happen. And while they may not be pleasant in the moment, they may just be some of your best memories years from now when looking in the rearview mirror.
What messes are you dealing with in your life and family right now? And how can you learn to be “okay” with them? Maybe start by simply reminding yourself of these three things.
