I have two precious children the Lord has entrusted to me. Being a parent is the most important call I have on my life. It is fun, rewarding, frightening, exciting, special, and did I mention frightening?
What I am not called to be is the most perfect parent. Thank God, because I would assuredly fail at that one. I have to remember to allow myself some grace, because I can be hard on myself sometimes.
My daughter’s room is neatly organized. Everything has a place and it lives in its place.
My nine year old son on the other hand, well, everything has a place, but nothing is ever in its place. I have bought totes, bins, and containers of all sorts in hopes it would excite him to be at least somewhat organized.
He has LEGO pieces, matchbox cars, game pieces and clothes scattered about at any given time. I have told him so many times, “Son, if you will just take time and put things back where they belong when you are done with them, things will be so much simpler.”
He smiles and says, “Yes ma’am, I understand, Mama, I will.”
And I walk away feeling like, This is it, we’re on the road to organization and sanity.
Fast forward….“Son, I am telling you, we wouldn’t have to spend all day organizing and cleaning if you would just do what I have said.”
I’ll then give him a speech about how we are to be good stewards of our time, money, and things.
I tell him how he needs to put the video games and television down and prioritize. Get the stuff you need to done and then you have time for the fun stuff. “Yes ma’am, I will do better.”
Ah, he is so polite and those dimples melt my heart.
This is how our lives had resorted to feeling like we are living the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Anyone else have Groundhog Day issues and moments? I certainly do and my son’s inability to be clean and tidy isn’t the only one. 😉
One particular day, things were not going well at all for me. Work stuff was weighing on me, I was at the end of some deadlines on some projects and I wasn’t feeling super motivated about anything really.
Then I get the call that someone was on the way over and I go into panic mode.
My house was tore apart from one end to the other. Dishes on the counter from the night before because I was too tired to take care of it then.
Laundry piled in the bathroom, you couldn’t even walk in the laundry room for all the mounds of clothes in there that I had sorted into color coordinating piles days earlier.
The dust was so thick you could write a short story on any given surface.
Well, what can you do? I did just what most probably would; I went into pick the house up and make it look like filthy, lazy pigs don’t live here. It was in the midst of this scrambling that I recalled every word, lecture and reasoning I had given to my son.
It was then I realized that it doesn’t matter what we tell our kids, how much we explain the hows and whys…What really sticks with them is what they see us do. I can’t tell him to be neat and organized if I am doing the opposite. Which is exactly what was happening.
I’ll never forget that day and the lessons it brought. I could feel the Lord assuring me that He has given these kids to me and I am to be an example. Perfection isn’t required. All that is needed is a pure heart.
I could also feel the Holy Spirit telling me I too needed to prioritize and put down the computer, Facebook and t.v time. I recalled me telling my son we are to be good stewards of all things.
I thanked the Lord for the grace and mercy He extends to me time and time again when I blow it.
Since then my son and I have tried harder and been much better about the being clean and organized. We have totally tried our best to live by “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. ” Colossians 3:23
About the Author: Jennifer Bennett: Mother of two and wife to the love of my life. I live in a small town in Mississippi where I have three adorable goats. By day you find me working in our family business with my husband and any free time is spent blogging and writing my book. I enjoy cooking and dancing. I love Jesus, books, fall, coffee, reading, Saturday mornings and feeling like life is special. Follow me on Facebook.
