What the Mess Reminds Me Of

Sitting on my couch, I can see past the dining room to my back patio. The morning sunbeams are streaming through the sliding glass doors and I can’t help but take a deep breath and be thankful for the start of a new day. The moment would be flawless except that my view of the patio is obstructed by a disarrayed dining room table. On days like this, our super special, built-by-a-friend, farmhouse-style table, which I normally adore, grates on my every nerve because of it’s cluttered surface.

Centerpiece shoved to the side, toy airplane, school paraphernalia, fidget spinners… not only is the surface a disaster but the chairs are all pushed out and haphazardly placed.

This room became one of my favorite spots in the house after some fresh paint and a beautiful handmade table replaced what was outdated, but I often struggle with the dissonance of wanting it to look perfect and the reality that it almost never looks perfect. So I can choose to focus on the maddening aspect of the mess or I can pause to think of the people behind the mess…

because the mess is made by us.

It’s made by our little family in our little corner of the world. This place is where we pray before family dinners and practice spelling rules during school time; it’s where we laugh during family games, make a lot of mistakes and practice forgiveness. There is so much life that happens here and the residue is left to prove it. So this mess can depress, defeat and debilitate me, or it can be precious to me today because of the preciousness of us making it together. God, help me to turn these regular inconveniences of life into reminders of what is good and beautiful. Wake up calls into gratitude for our loved ones come during life-threatening situations, but why wait until then when something as simple as a disheveled dining table can remind us of our priorities?

And now my priority is to teach those precious little loved ones how to declutter…

“If I cannot give my children a perfect mother I can at least give them more of the one they've got--and make that one more loving. I will be available. I will take time to listen, time to play… time to counsel and encourage.”

- Ruth Bell Graham