My van has been a disaster area as of late with thanks going mostly to my sons. Of course, if I am honest, I am the one at fault for allowing things to get "out of hand." I spent this glorious afternoon, while Isaac was napping, cleaning out the mess. Elijah and Luke were willing helpers...they love Windex and paper towels! The boys have accumulated numerous toys, books, sticks, pinecones, leaves, juice boxes, hats, etc. in their space at the back of the van. Would you believe that I pulled out about 20 sticks of various shapes and textures, about 15 pinecones, and handfuls of last years dry, crumbly leaves. They each have these lidded pockets on their sides of the van and those were stuffed full of their "collections." We find treasures at almost every park, playground, church yard that we visit. On top of all the dead vegetation, there were enough crumbs, snack bags and juice boxed to feed our family for days! Ha, ha! Anyhow, we vacuumed, windex-ed, scrubbed, sorted and put back together a beautifully clean van. It looks awesome! We went to a park this evening and who do you think was paranoid about her van?! Yeah, I was...I was nose to the carpet picking up several little pieces of mulch that had found their way into my immaculate van. I guarantee I will be obsessive about it for a few days until the next big spill! I should just get it over with and smush one Ritz cracker in the carpet...then there will be so many pieces I won't care anyore! I'm discovering this is a pattern in my life...I am the same way - obsessive -about my house, especially the bathroom - free from pee sprays and toothpaste goo, the bed sheets, the kitchen sink, the dining room mirror, the dining room floor, my books...and probably lots of other things, too! I really like that initial feeling of clean and the orderliness and sparkle of my labors, but the Lord is teaching me - through my children - to loosen up a bit! Guaranteed, within hours of finishing a job, it will need a touch-up too big to ignore! I am thankful that I am learning to be more concerned with how I spend my days - interacting with my boys, loving, playing, teaching, sharing, building relationships - than with the never-ending tasks of life and maintaining my home. If there were ever a thing to be obsessive about, it would have to be my boys...they're so awesome!!!!! 
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Obsessed With My Boys
My van has been a disaster area as of late with thanks going mostly to my sons. Of course, if I am honest, I am the one at fault for allowing things to get "out of hand." I spent this glorious afternoon, while Isaac was napping, cleaning out the mess. Elijah and Luke were willing helpers...they love Windex and paper towels! The boys have accumulated numerous toys, books, sticks, pinecones, leaves, juice boxes, hats, etc. in their space at the back of the van. Would you believe that I pulled out about 20 sticks of various shapes and textures, about 15 pinecones, and handfuls of last years dry, crumbly leaves. They each have these lidded pockets on their sides of the van and those were stuffed full of their "collections." We find treasures at almost every park, playground, church yard that we visit. On top of all the dead vegetation, there were enough crumbs, snack bags and juice boxed to feed our family for days! Ha, ha! Anyhow, we vacuumed, windex-ed, scrubbed, sorted and put back together a beautifully clean van. It looks awesome! We went to a park this evening and who do you think was paranoid about her van?! Yeah, I was...I was nose to the carpet picking up several little pieces of mulch that had found their way into my immaculate van. I guarantee I will be obsessive about it for a few days until the next big spill! I should just get it over with and smush one Ritz cracker in the carpet...then there will be so many pieces I won't care anyore! I'm discovering this is a pattern in my life...I am the same way - obsessive -about my house, especially the bathroom - free from pee sprays and toothpaste goo, the bed sheets, the kitchen sink, the dining room mirror, the dining room floor, my books...and probably lots of other things, too! I really like that initial feeling of clean and the orderliness and sparkle of my labors, but the Lord is teaching me - through my children - to loosen up a bit! Guaranteed, within hours of finishing a job, it will need a touch-up too big to ignore! I am thankful that I am learning to be more concerned with how I spend my days - interacting with my boys, loving, playing, teaching, sharing, building relationships - than with the never-ending tasks of life and maintaining my home. If there were ever a thing to be obsessive about, it would have to be my boys...they're so awesome!!!!! 
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Amen!! God always has a great way of reminding us we don't need to control everything, and that it's okay to have fun and be dirty. It was hard for me when I had Avery but I vowed to try my hardest to not be too over the top with keeping things orderly. I think we're doing a pretty good job and once and a while I'll get stressed that we have boxes from last years move that we haven't unpacked but then God reminds me that the time was well spent :)
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