Where There is Life, There Will Be a Mess

My preference, when I'm blogging or sharing anything online is to show you the fun aspects of my life. (Thankfully, there are many.) But, of course, my life is not clean and shiny and perfect all the time.

Especially right now.

We are in the throes of fixing up our sweet little home. We've torn down the rotting wooden beams from the front of our built-in-the-1970s freakishly small cottage-like house. The you're-taking-your-life-in-your-hands-if-you-step-out-there crumbling balcony is completely gone. It has been replaced by a beautiful (and safe!) paned window.

Our construction crew, led by our good friend, Cuco is hard at work doing the re-stuccoing on the back of the house, while a couple of the other guys are bricking the front pillars. Also, wouldn't 'Cuco and the Guys' make a great hipsters band name? (Welcome to my crazy.)

So I'm sitting here, patiently (and impotently) "Pinning" house painting and window trim ideas on Pinterest, (Where you're welcome to follow me, of course) all the while fighting a losing battle against clouds of dust that are quickly settling on every surface. My bedroom has fresh new drywall and everything but our bed is covered with plastic. What a mess!

As all this crazy messiness is swirling around me, I'm reminded of something I often say to my family:

"Where there is life, there will be a mess."

I say this to my kids all the time. Usually in an effort to dissuade them (and myself) from perfectionism. Believe me, with all the stuff I do, there's always the temptation to channel my Inner Perfectionist. She likes everythihg in its place and clean. In fact, she would prefer it if the people who live here would not actually, you know...live. (I promise you, she's not very pleasant to be around.)

But here's the truth - As long as there are people living here, there will always be piles of dirty dishes and laundry. There will always be unmade beds and things left out of place. There will be kicked off shoes in the living room and towels hung on doorknobs.

I have learned to embrace those things because the messes we live with declare loudly: THERE IS LIFE HERE!

When my home is pretty and painted I'll post some fun look-at-my-pretty-house pictures. But until then I am embracing the messy and the crazy that is my life today and living my sweet, messy, charmed life without pretending.

And I'm thanking God for every messy-crazy-awesome minute of life.

"To LIFE!" ~Tevye. Fiddler on the Roof