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There is a part of me that would like to believe I am just wonderfully perfect but deep down inside there is a little conscious in there bursting that bubble.

Quick, vacuum the floor, wipe that milk from this morning off the table, and get those toys out of here!

This is all running through my mind as I frantically throw something on that isn’t pajama like. I have fifteen whole minutes to clean house and make it look like something from a magazine.

But while I continue to frantically clean up and yell at my children for having bey blades all over the house I think to myself “You live here don’t you?”

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. -Ephesians 5:16

This scripture speaks volume in so many ways and I think it is relevent to this post. Paul was talking about our daily living here telling us to make sure our priorities are in order so that we don’t squander our responsibilities to steward our lives well.

I struggle having a dirty house and I struggle to not spend time with my children. Sometimes there is a perfect balance and other times I just have to choose which one is more important. I can clean up when the kids leave the house but this time with them, while they still come to me for scuffed up knees and belly aches,  I will never get back.

I struggle with the contents of my home and not the intent.

A home is not made up of a building itself. A home consist of the people who inhabit that said building. The values, the memories, the time well spent are what make a home.

God values family, community, diligence, faith, and integrity. And I admit, sometimes I struggle to put them in the forefront. I struggle to put down my phone, my craft, my book and give them some of me.

The point of this post is not that I need to clean up or that I need to build my home. The point is that we mama’s, wives, women have room to grow and when we fail or lack in areas that people are open to see, our response should be Jesus.

When people look at our failures and our mistakes, how we respond to our failure and mistakes should reflect our dependency in and on the one and true living God. To the world we should look imperfect because we are but they should also see a willingness to repent and learn and a desire to submit and  follow God.

Even when the house is a mess my attitude should be a reflection of Jesus.

I used to be so bothered when someone would walk into my house and wander to its imperfections but lately my thought has been, ” If I’m always trying to make my home picture perfect then I don’t have time to live in it or create the memories that will build it.” Don’t get me wrong though, I’m totally a neat freak and I can’t stand a dirty and cluttered house but every now and then life goes on and I fall behind. I want to be careful how I live, making the most of the time that God has given….Not making perfection an idol. I don’t want my home to thrive on things. I want the things to thrive and reflect us and what we have faith in. I want the things to have meaning which means we can create them which means we do life together.

In that 15 minutes I realized, no my house is not squeaky clean at the moment and that’s my weakness, but someone is on their way into my home. Let me spend more time figuring out how I can being hospitable, encouraging, thankful and giving and the reflections of my heart will out way the congestion in my home.

What way is the Lord growing and maturing you? What Idols have you obliviously watered to grow in your life? What has taken the place of the important things?

Here’s a challenge:

Look at these things in your life, search the scriptures for instruction and encouragement by looking up topics to support these things. Submit them to God in repentance and work on it. 

Living isn’t easy, neither is living for God. I’m grateful for a savior who takes my mistakes and washes them in his blood so that I can continue to learn and grow in God and reap a harvest of him in my life.

Love on purpose,

Linking up with: Wedded Wednesdays, Titus Tuesdays, Proverbs 31 Woman

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