clean vs. chaos

The past two weeks have been messy. Every moment has been filled. Even this moment as I stop studying and preparing a sermon for Sunday to write this introduction. As we head into Mother’s Day, I thought it might give us great perspective to hear a man’s thoughts on the subject. So, here he is uncensored! My husband, Bryce…

With Mother’s Day approaching rapidly I realized this will be the first Mother’s Day I’m going to have without a mother. I’ve gotten through twenty Father’s Days without a father but this will be something new.

We’ve spent the last week or so on the road with about 1600 miles behind the wheel and it has given me some time to mull this over. Drive time thinking and reflecting has always been good for me. Open highway, windows down, music up. There is something about winding country roads that manage to straighten out my thoughts.

Thinking through this motherless Mother’s Day I realized some things about my mother. She loved me. I know that. I mean that woman came to every awful high school band performance where I participated. She even came to a couple bar and coffee house concerts years ago. That was WAY out of her comfort zone. But the new revelation to me was that she found happiness in tidying up. Putting things in their place. Keeping a neat house. Having a perfectly manicured lawn. That was what she valued. She found calm when things were in order.

When I got married, this was a major adjustment. My wife thrives in chaos! She actually finds it enjoyable. She is at peace in the hubbub. One of the things I love most about my wife and how she acts as a mother is her sense of fun in the midst of chaos, unlike my mother who found joy when everything was in its place.

For Jody and I, nothing is really ever in its place. The yard gets mowed, however anything in it being manicured - that’s a stretch. But one thing we have on our farm is fun.

Jody And The Kids

Celebrating meals around the kitchen table. Playing music in the music room. And when the kids were younger - birthday parties. She even recently made a prom dress for our youngest daughter, Tziporah, while running a business and helping me release a new record.

Jody never minds messes. Even better if fun is to be had while they are made. Water balloons, face painting, sidewalk chalk on the back porch, whatever lets the kids have fun, she is all for it.

Mess is part of life. Kitchens get messy. Yards get messy. Relationships get messy. It is inevitable. But with a large helping of grace, and a little elbow grease, things can be set right.

So the next time things get messy, ask yourself if there is any lesson to be learned or fun to be had in the middle of it. Chances are it’ll clean up even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.

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I’ll be back for the next post right after my mess is cleaned up!

Searching for wisdom and asking for grace,

Jody