Life is messy.  

That's the title of the book I'm currently reading.  (Author Matthew Kelly).  

Something we can all relate to, I'm sure.  We continue to live in a small house with half our belongings in storage.  I feel like everywhere I look it is messy.  In my futile attempt to organize the mess I am continually rearranging things in our house to try to bring some order to the chaos.  It doesn't really fix the mess it just redistributes it.  I've even had moments of inspiration and worked towards getting rid of things for good.  It helps but the mess remains.  And so it is in my heart as well.  It feels messy.  Maybe this happens to you, but in your house or space, the mess feels so overwhelming, you don't really know where to begin.  Do you start with one corner or one shelf or one drawer to conquer?  Do you throw up your hands and just accept the mess?  Do you blame the mess on the people around you?  

This house is so small, if we had a bigger house it wouldn't be so messy!  The kids constantly leave things everywhere and I'm the only one trying to keep order!  Anybody else?  

What about the mess in my heart?  I've been challenged these last few months to not just ignore the mess or try to rearrange the mess but to embrace the mess.  Can I love every part of this process (this life) even if what I dreamed doesn't come to complete fruition?  Can I accept the unfinished parts or the unfinished attempts?  Beyond acceptance, can I cherish those unfinished pieces?  

I have a bad habit of starting craft projects and never finishing them.  My mom, an avid quilter and crafter, has taken pity on many of my abandoned projects and finished them.  I remember starting a cross-stitch design for a neighbor's coming baby and I'm pretty sure that child has now graduated college and that design is still not done.  Did I lose interest?  Did it turn out to be harder than I anticipated?  Instead of a beautiful cross-stitch, it's just a plastic bag with tangled threads and missing pieces.  It feels like my heart is the same.  Things have been harder than I anticipated.  In some ways, the threads of my heart have graciously been intertwined with others and the colors of their lives make my life richer and stronger and brighter.  I could not imagine the tapestry of my heart without them.  

There are tangled threads too.  Threads that have lost their vibrancy.  Threads that are so knotted and entangled.  There is so much mess alongside the beauty.  Where I see unfinished projects, in His great mercy, God does not abandon.  

"I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, the time of His return" Philippians 1:6 (AMP)

There has been a lot of hard lately.  Health and job struggles for extended family.  While many have finished up their school year, we still have a month to go (feels like an eternity!) and we are pursuing new school rhythms for next year which means lots of meetings, testing, and decisions.  Our lives are very full.  Three mini camps for Young Life in the last few weeks.  Training and travel for our leaders.  A special two weeks of walking and praying for ministry with the Walk for Hope.  Just like the weather, which can be brutally hot in the mid-day and a hailstorm by early evening, our lives fluctuate between the uplifting and the hard.  May I see the blessings in both.  

Enjoying the views nearby!

Attempts to organize the mess!

Beauty unfolding

Picking some fresh corn at the neighbors