When Life Gets Messy

I’ll never forget this day.

Carelessly, I moved from one room to the next,

forgetting about this small can beside my feet…………….

As the paint ran across the floor, I remember thinking,

“How ironic…..the very thing I’m using to make a room more attractive has now become my mess.”

It seemed to grow as I tried scooping it back into the container, running down the edges as quickly as I poured.

Messes.

They’re so easy to make but so hard to clean up.

One thing I know for sure after fifty years of living is this…..

no matter how hard I try…………

life gets messy even when I’m trying to make it more beautiful.

I wish I knew what to do when paper towels aren’t enough.

I wish I had an easy solution for cleaning up a spill that sticks and stains.

The truth is, there’s no easy way to “unspill.”

Scoop

Swipe

Smear

Scrub

Scoop

Swipe

Smear

Scrub

It takes work to undo what’s already done.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we scrub, no matter how hard we work,

it never seems to be enough to remove the evidence of a mess.

Whether you’re a grandparent, mom, dad, daughter, son, friend, brother, sister, cousin……………or any other type of relational being,

there will come a day when you forget the can is on the floor…….

The very container that holds something created for beauty will hit your foot, and you’ll find yourself on the floor too.

Scooping, swiping, smearing, scrubbing

Life can seem like three steps forward and ten steps backward so many days.

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I wonder, though, from God’s eyes just how messy our lives really look?

How does He see our spilling, scooping, swiping, smearing, scrubbing?

Is there music playing as He watches try to undo what’s done?

What if, from His view, the whole mess is a beautiful thing?

What if He sees the carelessness of our feet and smiles?

What if He sees our time on our knees as time well spent?

The pausing from our own attempts at creating beauty may just be the most beautiful part of our lives.

I’m slipping away from some of my messes for the next 48 hours……..with a friend who is slipping away from hers too.

We’re headed somewhere where firewood and flashlights will become our only source of heat and light.

Bibles and journals

Hot dogs and marshmallows

Blankets and pillows

Coats and hats

No cans of paint……………

no electricity……………

I’m not sure what to expect as I begin to pack, but I do know this:

Being human isn’t easy,

and maybe a night in the woods is exactly what we both need.

Scoop

Swipe

Smear

Scrub

Life is definitely messy,

but maybe it’s in the bending down to try to clean it up that we will discover real beauty.

I have a feeling God is already there………….in the wilderness…………..waiting for us.

Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;

Psalm 95:6