Today’s background photo is from a few weeks ago, when the leaves were still falling. I had just been out on the back deck the day before, sweeping all the leaves off … and the next time I glanced out the window, the deck was covered with leaves all over again!
I just had it neat and tidy … sigh.
Proverbs 14:4 – “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.”
As a mom, I have always been fond of this verse. “Where there are no people, the house is clean, but abundant life and joy come by the vitality of my family!”
Today is Thanksgiving Day! The house will not be “neat and tidy” on Thanksgiving Day. My family will fill my home … with energy, and vitality, and enthusiasm! And coats & shoes will be left in the entryway, cups & drinking glasses will be scattered here and there throughout the kitchen, dining room, and living room. My kitchen will have dirty dishes from dinner prep, and my kitchen will have even more dirty dishes after Thanksgiving Dinner.
I am one of those people who leave the mess. I want to spend every precious moment with my family! I don’t want to miss out on any of the fun! I can always clean up the mess once everyone is gone.
And so, I pile the dirty dishes in the sink to soak … and I go have fun with my family.
We pull out more dishes from the cupboards a few hours later, to have an extra slice of pumpkin pie … and maybe a snack of leftover Thanksgiving turkey & rolls. And those dirty dishes are left on the kitchen counter also. I’m busy watching Christmas movies with my family! I’m busy enjoying life to the fullest!
The mess is beautiful!
The mess means that life is going on here! The mess means that fun is being had together! Memories are being made together! Good times are being shared together!
The mess is beautiful!
Thanksgiving weekend continues, and my family and I head out to go do fun things together. My laundry pile grows into an overflowing mound out of the laundry basket. But I don’t care. I’m busy galivanting with my family … doing Christmas things together! Making memories together!
Most of us like our life to be somewhat neat and tidy. Just like I had swept off my back deck so that it was neat and tidy. We typically don’t like messes in our life.
But life is not neat and tidy. Life is messy!
And if we are going to be in relationship with people … it’s going to be messy. It’s going to create some literal cluttered “mess” … and it’s going to come with some emotional “mess.” Doing life together with others is messy.
And you know what … the mess is beautiful!
The mess means that life is happening here!
The mess means that relationships are being built!
The mess means that memories are being made! The good stuff of life. The stuff that makes us who we are.
“Where there are no people, the house is clean, but abundant life and joy come by the vitality of relationship with others!”
The mess is beautiful!
