The Good, the Bad, and the Messy

Organization has never come easy for me.  In fact I distinctly remember fighting against it as a child to my poor mom's dismay since she was always neat, and always well organized.  I on the other hand loved mess and it seemed I preferred it to orderliness.  As an adult I've gotten myself in a lot of trouble as a result.  I've missed Dr. appointments, birthdays, lost things (I have way to many safe places), etc...I wish I would have learned from my mom the discipline of organization instead of rebelling against it as a child.  It is definitely much harder to change bad habits the longer you've practiced them. 

Having said that I want you to know that I have come along way.  I'm not where I once was, but yet I still have a long way to go.  I also want to encourage you by letting you know that that the more organized I become the more I love it.  In fact I prefer it.  I love being able to find items right away and I've discovered that clutter along with piles of paper overwhelm me.  If you decide to take this journey towards being more organized with me I can guarantee that you too will love the difference it makes in your life.

This section on organization will be about this journey towards being more organized.  Notice I didn't say completely organized but more.  I know my limitations and that I will never be a perfectly organized woman nor do I want to be.  My desire is to simply continue to improve from where I am, understanding that I may have setbacks and slipping back into old habits.  If I do, I will start again reminding myself to "forget, reach forward, press on" (Phil. 3:13) whenever I fail.  This tip and many more which I'm sure I will continue to share with you I found in a book I've read by Donna Otto called "Get More done in Less Time."  

I hope to honestly share with you both my successes and my failures.  So that if there is any of you out there who struggle with being organized you will be encouraged to make small changes towards being more organized too. You are not alone and you are not a hopeless case destined to be buried in piles of stuff.  There is hope!!!

One area where I have made improvement in is keeping the house tidy and the clutter down.  At least on the main floor of the house, lol.  Although with as many people living in our house as there is this is an ongoing challenge with days of failure.  Keeping the house looking clean means that I have to go somewhere with all the stuff that commonly clutters a house.  You know what I'm talking about: school and Sunday school papers, mail, misc. papers, and all those things you just don't no where to put but you know you shouldn't throw away.  Usually I simply shove them in my cabinet above my computer.  Or things other then paper get shoved into various closets and cabinets until they start overflowing getting to hard to close.  My dad always joked calling these closets "Fibber McGee closets."  This is from a popular radio show that aired from 1935-1959, every time Fibber McGee would open the closet door stuff would come pouring out at him making a lot of noise and causing a lot of laughter with him saying "I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days."  Can anybody relate?  I can!!!

Today I will begin organizing a "Fiber McGee" cabinet of mine above my desk.  I'm posting the before pictures then when my cabinet is organized I will post the finished picture.

Nice and tidy on the outside but don't be deceived quite messy on the inside.

Reminds me of us.  Sometimes we look like we've got it altogether on the outside, but if anyone were able to open up the doors to our insides they'd see that we're a mess.  While I'm working on my cabinet and your waiting to hear the details why not meditate with me on these scriptures:

Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.
Psalm 26:2&3

⁸" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:8

"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. ¹⁷"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' " 
Matthew 15:16-22

 ⁹ Hide your face from my sins
       and blot out all my iniquity.
 ¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
       and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 ¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
       or take your Holy Spirit from me.
 ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
       and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
 ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
       and sinners will turn back to you.
 ¹⁴ Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
       the God who saves me,
       and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
 ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
       and my mouth will declare your praise.
 ¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
       you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
 ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
       a broken and contrite heart,
       O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:9-17