my messy life

I love being a home maker and all that the title actually entails...

At one subconscious point in my life I bought the line "cleanliness is next to godliness" so hook, line, and sinker that I devote one whole day to cleaning and doing laundry...I call it Monday Madness. After breakfast Hope plays while I clean her bathroom and dust/vacum her bedroom. This is followed by books, a nap for the little lovey girl and two hours of uninterrupted cleaning where I get in a Cinderella like zone...dusting, mopping, scrubbing, folding, and fluffing!!! This process usually runs until the nap ends and is resumed when the afternoon nap begins as well as after bedtime. I love Mondays because I get everything done and can enjoy the rest of the week in a clean house...with only minor tidying to be done each day. However, one thought I've been so mindful of is that at some point in my life this phase of caring for my husband and daughter will be a memory rather than a reality and so I decided to begin capturing moments that I'm titling "my messy life" (ever heard the Wayne Watson song, "Water colored ponies"?...bring tissues). It seems to me that as mothers there is a pull to look at these messes as a hassle rather than the process of life. I don't know why, but we want it to look perfect and pulled together...me included...all the time...but it's not the tidy house I'm going to long for when, down the road, it's always tidy. It will be the messes and the need to attend to them that will be missing.

I was thinking last week about how much I wish my grandma lived closer...she spends most of her time by herself and aside from an occasional get together with a friend, Hope and I spend our time as a little duo. It would be so nice if she lived closer so we could spend time together...which led me to thinking about how much of a servant she was/is, to her family, her friends, her church...only now she is in this phase of life where she doesn't have anyone around for her to take care of like she's been accustomed to and so she's begun to feel like her life lacks purpose.

It was this thought that led me to realizing in such a tangible way that life truly never has been and never will be about an arrival...so I want to enjoy the process of my life, the messiness of my life, a little more...

I am no photographer but that makes these pictures even more special to me b/c they will serve as a reminder of the way life was during this phase...I'll post them as I take them and I hope you enjoy! May they serve as a reminder for you to enjoy your "messy life"...