Beautiful Mess

In my perfectionist way of thinking--this is how my children's (the Littles) room should look. Just like the photo I took for our homestudy packet . . .

In reality, this is how my children's room more often looks. It is continually "under construction" with one project or another, of their own doing . . .

a new fort . . .

the inventory taking of their own personal "junk toy" totes . . .

tinkertoy creations, that of course must stay for days,

to be enjoyed (and tripped over).

Then there is the living room. One minute (and I do mean one minute) it's neat and orderly . . . but I turn my back and waaa laaa-- "the leaning tower of anything stackable" appears.

What?

Or a fort made out of a year or so worth of Highlights magazines . . .

Of course we can always transfer the Highlights magazines to the sunroom to make a drawbridge for the castle. It's the perfect addition to the pile of "hey, I want that" cardboard, pulled from the recycling bin.

Just steer clear of the pile of muddy clothes and shoes, as you build, guys!

Then there is the crafting table in the sunroom. My apologies for not having a photo so that you can ooh and ahh over its beauty. The table is an eternal mess -- interrupted only by things such as birthday parties, weddings, or special visits from company. (You know--occasions where we might actually need the extra tabletop to do something like . . . eat.)

I have been so stressed lately with trying to reach the housekeeping standard that I have set for myself. A standard that seems forever unattainable. A standard that I talk myself into believing everyone else can, and does, attain.

Amy G*rant has a new song out titled "Better Than A Hallelujah"--it's a beautiful song. The chorus says, "We pour out our miseries, God just hears a melody, Beautiful the mess we are, The honest cries of breaking hearts, Are better than a Hallelujah."

I had just dropped my two best mess makers off at school the other morning, when this song came on the radio. The Lord spoke two words to my weary heart as I listened to the chorus, "Beautiful mess." He continued . . . "The home you are stressing over. Comparing yourself over. Dreading dealing with. It's a beautiful mess. Beautiful because you have small children- gifts from me, to mess it up. Beautiful because there are things to make a mess with. Beautiful because you allow them to explore, and create, and be who I made them to be. Beautiful because I say it is."

Wow. Okay Lord. So after pondering this for a few days here's what I've come up with . . . I don't think what He is saying gives me a license to live in a constant mess, but it does cause me to look at the mess with different eyes. It also reminds me to stop comparing the state of my house to other people's houses.

I flipped my little daily calender a couple of days later, with this "mess" post already swimming around in my head. April 27th greeted me with some wise words from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. Isabella Mary Mason, universally known as Mrs. Beeton, wrote these wise words in 1861, at the wise old age of twenty five. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love Goo*gle?)

This is what the young Mrs. Beeton had to say about the way we should manage our homes . . .

"It ought, therefore, to enter into the domestic policy of every parent, to make her children feel that home is the happiest place in the world . . . this delicious home-feeling is one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."

A perfectly kept home screams, "Don't mess me up!" It screams, "Don't play here, don't play there, don't get that out!" In my opinion, it consumes hours, better yet days, that could be much better spent living life.

I'm still looking to find a happy place somewhere between beautiful mess, and organized and simplified mess. I think it's do-able. I am hearby laying down the unattainable standard of what I think my house needs to look like!

After all, the King and Queen of Mess, won't be little for long, and they deserve to live in a place that is the happiest place in the world . . . a place with that delicious home-feeling! I'm going to do my best . . .

Thank you Father for Your reminder of what is important in life. Thank you for your daily guidance in our lives. Please guide our steps--that we would not waste a moment on unnecessary tasks. Help us all to make our homes the happiest places in the world. In Jesus name, Amen.

Blessings from my messy, but deliciously homey, nest ~

Tina