Thankful for messy rooms

As I walked down the hallway and glanced in my youngest daughters' room, I noticed that it was littered with toys--AGAIN! This room that had already been messy and cleaned up once today (and by my inspection it was a very good job) was now once again messy and it's not even noon!! Frustration began to rise. I'm going out of town this afternoon. I'm leaving for three days, and my mother in law is coming in tonight to help Jon out with the kids. Even though I know she doesn't expect it to be perfect (or even close to it!) I want it to be. In my pride I want it to be.

Admit it. You feel the same way. Why is it that we clean up when other people are coming over?? Why do we feel the need to have rooms cleaned, dishes put away, floor vacuumed, swept and mopped, all the dust cleared (well, that part hardly ever happens at my house)? I know I feel much better when I go to someone's house and it looks like mine--or worse!! Right? It lets me know that I'm not the only one who struggles with keeping a clean house. It lets me know that it's okay sometimes to have other priorities. But still we feel that we have to house clean houses when others come. Why? Is it because we want to look like we live differently than what we really do? We don't want the real us to show through?

But that's not really what this post was about. As I let my frustration simmer and listened to the conversation that was taking place, I began to realize that I'm thankful for those messy rooms--those rooms that hold so much imagination. I love listening to my girls play. I love that they can get lost for hours in a different world of their own make believe. I love that while they are doing this, they are building the strongest of relationships with one another. They never fight when they are together in their rooms playing, imagining, making their world a better place.

And so I'm thankful for messy rooms today. Yes, I'll have them clean it up again before Omi comes. I'll do everything I can to have the rest of the house ready as well. And we probably won't get much schoolwork done today because of it!! But I'll try to remember what's really important and what will matter years down the road.

I think they'll always remember those play times. They'll remember that they always had their best friends there as playmates whenever they wanted them. I never had a sister, and my brother never had a brother. I certainly don't fault my parents for this. It's just the way it was. I loved my brother. We had fun together and still do. But I'm so glad my girls have sisters and my boys have brothers!! They each bring such an important and vastly different perspective to our family life. I know God doesn't always give boys brothers or girls sisters--even in families that have more than two kids. But I'm so thankful he chose to in ours.

And even though our rooms are messy and our yard is messy as well (much to Jon's dismay everyday when he drives in from work) I know it's building relationships. It's building memories that will never be forgotten......

.......and I'm sure the neighbors will never forget either!!