Tribulation worketh patience…and both are annoying

The Superfamily is finally back into our house, but it’s still far from being our home. We still have boxes everywhere! We are going through the process of going through each box to determine what goes and what stays. I view this as a fresh start, a new beginning…a chance to rid ourselves of the old and look forward to the new. Ideally, this would be a good exceptthe process is painstaking. If this was just my home, over 80% of these boxes would not have made it back in the door from the restoration people. Why? If you haven’t seen it, worn it or use it in 2 years you don’t need it, chances are you are merely accumulating it with the fear that no more is coming. Fear is a horrible, inconsistent motivator. I've seen for years what the poverty mentality does to people and it’s sad. Remember, It doesn’t matter whether you have “money” or not, the mentality of being poor is worse than actually being poor. Message to others:  Learn to let things...GO.


That’s a difficult principle to teach especially in a blended family. Every piece of paper, all 4,954 photos, every other stitch of clothing reminds someone on one side or the other of what their life USED to be. In order for us to get to where I believe God is calling us, that can no longer be the focus or driving force behind every decision. A memory maybe…the focus…no. Whereas I have worked hard over the years to get to the place that the most important memories I have aren’t captured in a book or something material…they are captured in my heart and in my spirit…I learn daily that everyone hasn’t gotten there yet nor do they view it at the same level of importance.

So in the interim, I live in clutter and there MUST be extra grace being applied from God for me to deal with it, because people that know me “for real for real” know that this stuff (mine, his, hers, there's EVERYBODY's) would have been on the curb weeks ago and my house would have been cleaned, organized and decorated for Thanksgiving. What is this teaching me…patience? Well, Tribulation worketh patience…and BOTH are annoying. But I will need patience to become the multipreneur that I am working to be. I will need patience to edit my 2nd and 3rd book simultaneously. I will need patience to work on this TV pilot project. I will need patience to continue to go to work everyday and seek out new and  different things to learn. I will need patience to sow wisdom into my lil’ heirs. I will need patience with myself to forgive me when I screw up and when I don’t have enough patience with others. There is hope...in the very next verse that I reference above..patience brings experience (or character) and experience reaps hope! Character and hope are excellent fruit of learning how to wait...so I believe I'll just teach by example, sit still and wait right here....bouncing my leg up & down and tapping my fingers feverishly :).

The Rallying Cry for May-June ORGANIZE

In the book "3 Big Questions for a frantic family"...one of the BIG questions is "What is your "rallying cry"? What is the specific plan, purpose and procedures for your family for the next 3 months? Not the overall goal in life...just what is the focus right now. What can get everyone on the same page and headed in the same direction...for us lately it has been CLUTTER REMOVAL. You can't think clearly if you are surrounded by clutter, garbage and excess. In most cases of creativity..less is more. Our family is very creative and innovative...so the best way for me to nuture that, is to make sure that the atmosphere is readily conducive for thinking and ideas.

Sooooooo... we started with getting rid of old clothes and shoes and bringing them up and out to the living room. The pictures show the 1st phase of drop offs. By the way, as you will note Our living room is void of furniture right now...so its the best place to spread out, sort and organize things..(I have no idea what we'll do if we ever buy furniture...I really like that room)


Anyway... boy did the clothes start coming...clothes I hadn't seen since we moved there. Shoes that were missing shoestrings and had scuffed heels and toes. Some of the items were salvageable and in good enough shape to donate to worthy cause. So I dragged the laptop onto the living room floor (always the multitasker) and after sorting, and reviewing and listing...we had about 5 boxes and 3-4 large bags ready on the porch for pick-up.


Then I focused my attention to my bedroom. I wanted my dresser space cleared and the pseudo office area that John has the laptop set up in cleaned up and organized. I got those areas de-cluttered and my next project is the back closet off of the garage...UGH...I will have to look up some ideas for that area. Its my least favorite place in the house...