Spring Cleaning

I began Spring cleaning the week of Spring’s arrival. It’s a yearly ritual. I actually do Winter cleaning as well... but you get the picture. I think it’s important to re-evaluate what we have, determine what is truly being used and decide what is no longer needed. It is absolutely a cleansing process, in more ways than one. Right before Spring, I feel myself getting a little anxious because I know that spring cleaning is coming. Even though, in my head, I’m very aware of the benefits of spring cleaning, I have to prepare my mind and emotions for it. There are boxes of the kids’ paperwork to sort through and I can’t save it all so I have to decide what’s most important. Not to mention the cute little clothes that they’ve outgrown. Do I keep certain pieces just to be sentimental or pass them along to someone who can actually use them? And let’s not talk about my clothes... the ones that are too small that I vow to lose weight to fit again someday. See, the anxiety comes from the reality that I have to face of my children growing up too fast and that I may very well never lose the weight :( My first round of Spring cleaning is complete after 3 gigantic garbage bags of clothes and shoes that the boys and I haven’t worn in quite some time. I even went through the boys’ toys, some of my pocketbooks, and random other things around the house that were not being used. It felt freeing to release myself of these items. After it was out of the house, I realized that these things were just taking up space. Now with it all being gone, I can better appreciate what we already have and it doesn’t feel cluttered. If needed or when needed, we will have the space for more or something even better. It’s so important that we do Spring cleaning. And not just of our physical possessions but of all of the things that clutter our lives with negativity. We have to take inventory of the energies that we are receiving from others into our space and into our spirits. Just as there is no real purpose of having 100 pair of jeans, there is no real purpose to have people in our space who do not mean us well. I get it though. Some of us are afraid to open up that box. Because once we start throwing stuff out, we have to actually do something about it. We have to then feel the pain and hurt of our choices, disappointments and failures, as well as directly address the things that others have done to us. We have to acknowledge our role in what we have allowed. We have to work through the anger and move forward in forgiveness and Lord have mercy sometimes forgiveness is so incredibly hard. This is where Spring cleaning becomes therapy. It is our hope that our love will be enough to transform the unhealthy people in our lives but we have to be honest with ourselves knowing that their transformation has to come from someone greater than us. So when we release them, we have to also free ourselves yet remain prayerful that God will do some Spring cleaning within them (Luke 6:28 “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”) May you learn to treasure what you have and allow yourself the opportunity to receive more. May you see the beauty of this special time of cleansing and allow God to rejuvenate your soul and declutter your spirit. May you accept responsibility for your mess and create a healthy lifestyle that frees you from hoarding unnecessary belongings as well as unnecessary stress, anger, bitterness and those things that are not of God. May you find forgiveness in your heart for those who have littered in your life and lift them up in prayer to your Heavenly Father. Be whole knowing that God is all you need; everything else is secondary. And may you truly discover peacefulness in your time of Spring cleaning (“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” -- 1 Corinthians 14:33).

Pick Your Battles

Jonah, the 2 year old, is very particular about what he wants to wear. This began last year around his 2nd birthday. Jayden was not like this at 2 years old. Whatever I laid out for him to wear, he put it on with no problems. So initially when this began with Jonah, I was like look dude... you’re going to wear what I said wear because I said so and I’m the Mommy. Well, as our struggles with attire grew each day, I began to realize that I was wasting my time and using unnecessary energy to fight a rather silly battle. Most days Jonah wanted to wear shorts with boots or shorts with Elmo slippers. I decided to allow him to do this during the week since he was just going to the sitter. He may not have been matching and he may have looked as if he were dressed for 2-3 different seasons, but the bottom line was he was dressed and we made it out of the house without either of us having a meltdown. I thought about this yesterday as I found myself expending energy and wasting time trying to fight an unnecessary, silly battle. Here I was going back and forth with someone in text messages throughout the entire day about something that ultimately, doesn’t even concern or bother me. I allowed myself to get all worked up, angry and even throwing jabs. For what? So I had to check myself. I had to remember that I already know the real truth that outsiders don’t see or know. I had to remember my bottom line. And I had to go back to what I know that God has already promised me. Exodus 14:14 came to mind... “The Lord will fight for you, you only need to be still.” When I love, I love hard. So the same is true when I’m in fight mode... I fight hard. Usually my fight is because of something or someone I love. It’s extremely important for me to get my points across with examples and facts to support it. There is passion in my fight. It used to bother me when I felt like someone was winning or getting over on me. I had to make sure people knew that I knew what they were trying to do by calling them to the carpet so to speak. Then I realized how much more fun and interesting it is for others to think I’m stupid and watch them play themselves. Besides, everything doesn’t require my attention or response. I believe that we escalate situations in our lives when we become all bothered and worked up. As the saying goes, “you don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to”. There are so many battles that I could fight but I choose not to because I know without any doubt that I don’t have anything to prove to anyone. So instead I choose to be still, have peace, pick my battles wisely and allow God to fight for me. I encourage each of you to step back and examine the battles you are currently fighting. Ask yourself 1. what exactly are you fighting for 2. who is the battle benefiting and 3. do you trust God enough to step back and allow Him to fight those battles for you? Reduce your stress by re-evaluating what’s really important. Pick your battles, don’t let your battles pick at you. It’s just that simple.

Show Some Gratitude

As adults, we can sometimes become so busy with life that we lose sight of the basics. However, children have a funny yet simple way of reminding us just what those basics are. My boys say thank you to me all of the time. For every little thing. Even things that I don’t think they need to thank me for like cuddling with them at night, making cupcakes together, or playing at the park. I am their mother. This is what mothers are supposed to do, right? Jonah has been potty training and no kidding y’all, whenever I buy him underwear, he gets so excited and says, “Mommy, awh, you bought these for me? Thank you Mommy!” accompanied with a great big hug and kiss. In my mind, I’m thinking, it’s just underwear but you’re welcome buddy. Jayden is the same way. On our ride home from Five Guys he’ll say, “Thank you for taking us to Five Guys Mommy”. Again, in my mind, I’m thinking... it was just a burger... we had to eat dinner and I refuse to cook today (LOL). Every morning on the way to school/babysitter/work, we pray. If it were not for my habitual tardiness everywhere I go, we would pray at home but that’s besides the point people ;). Sometimes I lead the prayer and sometimes Jayden leads (Jonah hasn’t progressed to all of that yet but we can count on him to holler AMEN). When Jayden prays, he thanks God for everything his little heart can think of; from Jesus dying on the cross for our sins to trees so that we have oxygen to live, animals and plants so that we have food to eat. I’ve heard him thank God that we have a car to get us to church so that we can learn more about Him, shoes on our feet, a home to go to each day and so much more. Sometimes he gets so deep into his thankfulness and expressing his gratitude to God that he doesn’t even bother asking Him for anything. This reminds me to be grateful for all things, big and small. Because just as Jayden realizes that I don’t necessarily have to take them out to eat dinner and just as Jonah realizes I don’t necessarily have to buy him Batman underwear, I realize that God doesn’t have to wake me up in the morning. It’s just that simple. So every morning that my feet hit the floor, the very first words out of my mouth will be “Thank you Lord”. Even when there are prayers that I want God to answer, I hope that I am more like Jayden and get so caught up in my thankfulness that I sometimes forget to utter my requests. We spend so much time complaining about what’s wrong that we don’t express our gratitude for what’s right. We spend so much energy wasting & worrying about things that don’t matter that we lose sight of what really does matter. So take some time to show God some gratitude (Psalm 107:1 -- “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.”)for every single thing He has done and is doing in your life because understand, He doesn’t have to do it... but aren’t you glad that He did/does?