Okay, maybe not so much dirty as just plain messy. The above photo is of my desk in the office. It is a pure wreck! Papers piled high and kids through their stuff up there too. The dog comes in with a shoe and it gets thrown on the desk (instead of in the closet). It's just a WRECK! Consequently I am embarrassed for anyone to see inside my office.
At Christmas time we pull boxes and boxes of decorations out of our attic, down 2 flights of stairs, and empty them of their decorations. We then used to carry empty boxes back up 2 flights of stairs, wait 4 weeks and bring them back down 2 flights of stairs to fill. In recent years we've decided to just put them in the office for the month of December, since no one goes in the office anyway.
My husband and I hosted our Sunday school Christmas party this December. About 40 folks came over to our house. I'd cleaned the house up spotlessly (Except of course the office, which was a wreck with all the usual stuff, all the Christmas boxes and everything else from everywhere else that I'd thrown into the office to hide for the party.) I instructed my husband, "NO ONE IS ALLOWED IN THE OFFICE!"
The party was going well. Someone brought a card to give our Sunday school teacher as a thank you and wanted every one to sign it. She asked my husband where is an "out of the way place" she could put the card to have everyone slip in and sign the card secretly. Guess where he sent them?!?!??! IN THE OFFICE!!
Are you kidding me? One by one folks were going in to see my dirty side! I only wanted them to see the clean part. And while I was very unhappy about this, the fact is everyone saw the real me, both sides. (Well, everyone who signed the card before I saw what was going on, freaked out, and moved the card.)
You know, it's not just my home where I want people to only see the best of me. In my daily living I put forward my "best face." I don't want people to see the dirty side of me. The side that utters a swear word, or yells at my kids when they mess up, or gets really mad at my husband because he sent folks into my office. I only want people to see the nice neat portion of me. But both sides exist.
I'm thankful for a heavenly Father who sees and knows all of me, and sent his son to die for my dirty side. He even helps me clean up the dirty side of me.
Do I have any other volunteers to clean up, you know, the dirty side of my office?
Matthew 8:2,3 -- A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
19 comments:
So like our sweet husbands to send them into the messy office! :) It's actually quite freeing not to hide our messes, hunh?
"Authenticity pursuing holiness"!
Love you friend!
Enjoy your snow day home...again!
We are hoping for one on Wednesday!
with all this snow, we have NOT had one snow day off from school yet for the cherubs...it's all been on weekends here.
Kelly,
If we all appeared perfect, only having a good/pretty side our ministry would not truly be affective. Thank GOD, you are "real" and not only GOD knows it! I praise GOD for your messy side. It helps you relate to others and like me it keeps you humble, I am sure!
Lots of love, hugs, and giggles,
andrea
I love this analogy! I would have freaked out exactly you did.
I'm becoming freer about sharing my messy side because I have seen how God can work through my weakness.
Yet, even though I know Jesus desires my authenticity and not my perfection, I still tend to cover up my mess and present only my "presentable" side.
Glad you enjoyed the snow. We got about a foot this weekend and it's so beautiful. No school off for the kids, though.
I appreciate you keeping it real, Kelly. EVERY home has a junky closet, drawer, and/or room, mine included.
Last night we hosted a HUGE Super Bowl party and like you, I closed the door to our "den" because it's where stacks of stuff winds up. By night's end (surprise!) the den door was wide open. But I figure people understand, because they have a room just like that, too. LOL
In the end, I think authenticity is far more important than our clean images.
Door locks ;-)
If we were perfect, the Bible would have read a lot differently. So, since we're not perfect, we can rejoice in the fact that God knows us inside and out, yet He is still FOR us (regardless of office conditions).
I can tell you are working on lots of stuff and that is a good thing. My house is on the market. I cannot have a room like that. It forced me or rather us to declutter. It feels great for everything to have a place but it not the real me. Thank you Jesus for paying for our messes and preparing a place for us that will be perfect! Be encouraged Kelly. B
This was a great post, Kelly! I can completely relate as I used to be guarded with the real me. But God has shown me how important it is to be real because only then can we find true healing.
Love you, all of you!
I won't call "Clean House" on you. We all have those areas of our homes that pite up and in our lives too.
Hope you'll join me for how "Cupid Shot Me" day at my bog www.dianeestrella.com :O)
Looks like my desk...which cannot be closed off b/c it's a part of my kitchen. Books, books, books, photographs, scraps of paper, always a Tervis tumbler, bills, Andrew's art, cards...
Even the most fastidious Felix Unger, has a little Oscar Madison inside. Otherwise it's called Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!
I also have a cluttered desk. But probably, just like you, I know exactly where every last scrap of information is stored. Which pile. And how far down.
I call it my gravity fed file system. My wife on the other hand, is the neat as a pin type. I don't know how she puts up with me! Really I don't.
You brought tears to my eyes! So funny! I've stood aghast several times at the shape of my husband's office (the first room you see in our home). If I clean, things get lost, and I'm in trouble...so I leave it alone.
I soooo related to your predicament! We work so hard to hide things, and then someone exposes our "dark" side. Thank goodness! LOL. Loved this post!
This was so funny, I would have freaked out. Just like a hubby to think nothing of sending people into the messiest room of the house. I have gotten better at letting people see the dirty side, they have to love all of me not part of me right :)
Hi Kelly,
I'm totally with you here. I have an off-limits room where I shove all the clutter when people come over. Then I have to figure out where everything went! Even did the same thing with the Christmas boxes in that room!
And I love how you related it to our lives. So very true that we want people to see the best and are thankful that God sees the worst and loves us anyway!
Enjoy your snow - we're getting it tomorrow night!
Blessings,
Susan
LOL!!!! I'm stilling laughing... but with you not at you. :D
Last week I was very discouraged about one of my annoying behaviors being SO clearly obvious in a room full of people. I just couldn't get past it.
But God put someone in my path who was very much like me in her struggle with that very same behavior. It was so nice to feel forgiven and be able to laugh with someone over my weakness. (I tend to talk too much in case you're wondering.)
I am so glad God loves me even when I'm annoying to others.
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DWV: nopher - This is a little burrowing varmint that won't admit to his annoying behavior.
LOL. Gotta love God's sense of humor too!
Love Sue J's solution! :)
refreak - What Kelly may do if her husband directs people to the office again.
LOL sounds like something my hubby would do. Well I'm looking at my mess and I know that time it is.. Time to tackle those shelves filed craft items. and i need to let go and let God take control,
Hugz Lorie
I remember "biting my husband's head off" one time when he took someone in our bedroom and it was a mess. LOL. I think we can all relate to this post, both the housekeeping and the daily living part!
Ha. How typical. I believe I did something similar last time you had a family get together at your house and I took ET & CJ into your office to show them something on the computer. opps. You kept your cool though.....at least I think you did.
I would (seriously) love to help you organize your office.
I'm glad to see you're just as "perfect" and "clean" as I am! Check out my post tomorrow. It's just for you!
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