keepin' it real

I took some pictures of my messy kitchen this morning.  On a perfect day, my house would be clean all the time.  As we all know, life is not perfect, and I have these other living, breathing creatures living in this house with me that make keeping it clean and nice utterly impossible.  And, for the record, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

I have people who drink soft drinks that leave them on the counter living under the same roof as me.  The same people forget to put the bag of cereal up after they use it.  They rinse their dishes off, but then leave them in the sink.

On the other side of the kitchen (the bottom picture) is our on-the-go coffee pot.  Why is it on the go?  Because there's a breaker that's broken right now.  Unfortunately, that means that three of our outlets do not work in our kitchen, one of them being where we normally keep our coffee pot.

If you were to walk into my kitchen right this second, you would see the coffee pot has moved yet again.  Because I just made pot number two of this day...yup, it's that kind of day.  It's freezing and pouring down rain, and I just wanted another cup, but there was none leftover from this morning.

Back to the bottom picture, though, see the red Crock Pot over there?  That was my main Christmas gift from my mom and step-dad last Christmas.  The stone insert (the bowl) cracked Sunday night!  Todd called them yesterday, though, and they're sending a replacement.

Also over there are some electronic devices, because I have banned them on school mornings.  There's a baking stone on the oven that never got put back, and I'm pretty sure there are crumbs on the stove top.

See?  My house is very lived-in, far from perfect.  I don't post these kinds of images, normally.  I prefer that people see the "good" images of my house.  (Ouch.  Keepin' it real!)

Why is that?

I think it's pride.  I want people to think the best of me.  I love being made to feel good, don't you?  I enjoy being complemented by people who see the images I post on Facebook and Instagram.  (Because, really...isn't what all that posting is about?  "Hey!  Look at how awesome my life is!" seems to be what I see on my news feed, and YES I am preaching to the choir here.)

I confess to you and pray that the Lord removes this sort of pride from me.  I pray that He makes me humble, and that He gives me reminders to keep on asking for humility.  Just this morning, in a moment when the kids were getting on my last nerve, I had the thought that I should be thankful for the frustrating moments.  Those little moments that get to me are proof that I cannot walk through life without God.  He literally carries me through certain times in my life, the frustrating moments being one example.  These little moments are an opportunity to share God's love, mercy and grace with my kids.

Did I pray that?

No, not in those words, but I prayed that our thoughts and words would be pleasing in His sight.  I asked Him to give us the kindness, gentleness and compassion that we needed with one another in the midst of our day.

I am thankful that He's given me the ability to teach my kids thankfulness.  Because when you are intentionally thankful for things, you see His goodness and His hand at work in your life.  That doesn't mean every day is perfect, that is far from true!  But His power is perfect in our weakness.  (2 Corinthians 12:9) The worse our day is, the MORE we should rely on Him.  When we shift our focus from bad to the good He is and has done, perspective starts to change.  I've seen this happen so many times in my life, and I feel honored to share that with my boys.

We've been trying our best to write down things we are intentionally thankful for each day.  We've all missed some days here and there, and that's okay, but we're giving it our best shot.  I reminded them to keep going just this morning.  And after some time studying His word and writing some of His word down on paper (for my benefit), I made my entry for today.

He has renewed a steadfast spirit within me.  He has made my heart glad, and I rejoice at His goodness.  Period.  Because He is good.  Far more so than any of us could ever deserve.

Do you struggle with things like I do?  With pride or envy or bitterness?  Am I alone in my human-ness?

I almost went and deleted some of what I wrote, but I'm not going to do that.  I feel the need to confess and ask forgiveness of things that I've written or spoken, and what better way to do that than on here?  Accountability is a good thing, and so is being open and honest and real.  I miss the days of that real-ness, don't you?  I have a few friends who I'm real with all the time, but social media has played a major part in us showing only our best.  Well, I write "us", but it's at least done that to me.

I say that because today is Facebook's tenth birthday.  I don't know if I should be mad or happy about that.  I love social media and I hate social media.  There are definite good and bad qualities, and I think it is what we make it.  I promised myself a long time ago that I would use my Facebook for good and not bad.  ("Bad" meaning negative, or in a way that complains or puts down others.)

Feel free to share some love.

Love to all.