I have told several people recently that right now I feel like all I do each day is go from mess to mess cleaning up after others! Can you relate?
For example, last week I was changing a poopy diaper in my room and something in my “mom radar” sensed that all was not well. Sure enough, as I walked into the girls’ bedroom, one of my offspring was generously applying Desitin to her face and hair (and of course sharing so nicely with her sister).
Earlier the same week, I found myself whisper-yelling (while on the phone) to the same child to, “Stop this fooling around RIGHT NOW and put your underwear BACK ON!” (I laughed as soon as I said it, realizing how ridiculous I sounded to the person on the other end of the line!)
I could go on about mysterious puddles of water in the bathroom (which child did this?), strange stains on the carpet (what is this?), piles of laundry (is this clean or dirty?), boxes of dry pasta emptied onto the floor in the midst of fixing dinner (a little dirt never hurt anyone, so you can bet I put it right back in the box), black ink pen on the dining room table (when did she even do this?), stickers on the walls (eh… at least she’s not writing on something!)… but I’m sure you get the point by now.
Do you ever have days/weeks/years like this? As though the entirety of your day is spent cleaning up messes that you yourself did not create? I would like to think that it will get better soon, but alas, my children are only getting taller, smarter, and stealthier!
This is a season of messes.
Sometimes there is disobedience involved (i.e. the Desitin incident), but other times it’s just foolishness, like the day recently when one of my daughters wedged a Triscuit into a slot of the printer that necessitated extraction using needle-nosed pliers. Sometimes we discipline for the messes (when it is direct disobedience), but sometimes (most of the time), I just clean up the mess and try to maintain a sense of humor, all the while placing objects up higher out of their reach.
I’m tempted to believe that this constant cleaning up of messes is keeping me from my larger purpose–ministry to my family and to others–but the Lord has reminded me recently that this is my ministry.
Cleaning up after my children (and my–hopefully–appropriate response to it) is one of my primary ministries right now! Gently responding in love to a child who has been foolish or disobedient is how I can reflect Christ to my family right now.
Do I always respond in the right way? Of course not! I know that God is using this for my personal sanctification (growing to be more like HIM) as well.
I am trying to embrace this busy season and realize that in the midst of messes lies exactly the ministry God has for me today!
