O.k., I’ll admit it: I’m a nag.
I have three children, ages 11, 7, and 5. The two eldest, girls, share a room, and my son has his own space. And they know better than anyone how frustrated it makes me when I’m constantly picking up after them. Or worse, when I don’t pick up after them, when I don’t remind them to straighten up, and their rooms slowly turn into unrecognizable spaces more fit as anterooms to a trash heap.
It’s deeply annoying.
As a mom with ADHD, it’s always been a struggle for me to keep my home straight. It is a challenge for me to make my own bed daily and keep our communal living space tidy. However, it’s a feat that I’ve been living up to for the last year rather successfully. Since moving to a much more smaller space while my husband attends seminary, I’ve been forced to become more organized, and the process has been a joyful blessing. Life is better when one doesn’t have to worry about how messy their home is and hoping that nobody drops by unexpectedly. It’s almost pleasurable when someone does visit and I can breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t feel embarrassed by the state of disarray of my home.
Why the change? Other than the fact that it’s simply more enjoyable and less stressful to live a less cluttered life, it’s also a matter of good stewardship.
I was complaining to a girlfriend of mine who hasn’t been blessed with kids yet about how I get so stressed out over their messy rooms and their apathetic tendencies toward straightening up. She responded by claiming that she views it as a stewardship issue; and she’s right. Though it aggravates me, somehow I have been perpetuating my kids’ disregard for order.
Here’s the bottom line: Would God be pleased with the way we treat our belongings? Would God be happy with clutter? Somehow, I don’t think so.
You’ve heard the phrase ‘less is more’. Why is it true? Because less is easier to handle. Less is more manageable. Less requires minimal effort.
Unfortunately, clutter is a serious disregard to stewardship. One can justify their mess by claiming that they are too busy to straighten up after themselves, or that cleanliness and tidiness aren’t really important or what matters most. But that is immature, misguided at best. Justification isn’t going to help you get your life in order. And I can promise you that chaos isn’t in the equation for peace.
What’s the solution? One can’t expect to change overnight. To exchange bad habits for good ones, try one thing at a time. I started by making my bed every day. And now, after a year of discipline, I can’t imagine not making my bed every morning after getting up. It’s automatic.
As for my kids’ rooms, we have a new motto: If you can’t find a place for it, then it doesn’t fit in our home. And if they don’t clean up after themselves, they know that their mom will. But Mom doesn’t put their stuff away, she donates it to children who can handle living with more stuff. Miraculously, even the smallest Lego finds itself in its place.
Clutter simply isn’t holy.
What sort of things do you do to keep your own home orderly? How do you teach your children good stewardship? I’d love to hear about ways that you practice good stewardship in the home. Please share your tips about ways to exchange bad habits for good.
Moving the Spirit 