Picture Perfect

Our house in now officially on the market!

Which means, I am officially in "Don't touch anything or mess anything up or make any messes!" mode.  Kind of hard to do, realistically, with two little girls.  Not to mention two little boys who come over for daycare every day!

Let's just say I am praying, fervently, for the house to sell QUICKLY!

Yesterday, I worked hard to get everything ready, to make the house look "picture perfect."  Read that: every room in the house looks nice so the pictures on the website listing are enticing and when people come to visit the house, they will think everything is all neat and clean.  It took some creative efforts, but I got it done.  I rearranged, put things in the storage area in the basement or out in the garage, threw more stuff in closets and drawers, jammed even more stuff under the bed.  Let's just hope the potential buyers don't go poking around in my dresser or kitchen cabinets.

Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about how the house was looking.  I had just finished vacuuming and then steam cleaning the carpets.  Lawrence and Coralyn were outside spreading mulch and raking leaves in the front yard.  If you have kids, you know exactly where this is going.

Coralyn doesn't just like to be outside in nature, she likes to bring nature inside our house.  She has a habit of picking up sticks, rocks, leaves random flower petals, and anything else she can hold in her hands, stuff in her pockets, or shove in her boots.  That's what she did yesterday.  Filled her yellow rain boots with leaves.  She was wearing them to "help" Lawrence add as much curb appeal as possible by getting the front yard "picture perfect" to match the inside of the house.  When it was time to come inside, she sat down on my freshly cleaned carpet and proceeded to dump the leaves out of one of her boots.

"Look, Mommy, I have money!"

Let's just say it was a good thing some of my childbirth students had arrived for class.  I calmly picked up all the crumbled leaves and promptly put them back outside, reminding Coralyn once again that we do not bring sticks, rocks, flowers, or leaves inside the house.

"Okay, Mommy.  Sorry, Mommy."  And she bends down to try to clean up the rest of the mess she made.  So kind.  So thoughtful.  But not so helpful, as she was really pushing the tiny pieces further down into the carpet.  I quickly assured her that I would finish getting the leaves and Daddy could get her a snack in the kitchen.  Off she goes, hopping up and down, bouncing and screaming like a wild woman.

No sooner had I picked up the last speck of crushed leaves and shut the door behind another childbirth student arriving for class, which was supposed to start in the next five minutes or so, do I see Coralyn take off her OTHER boot and dump the leaves in it on the carpet.

"These need to go back outside too, Mommy."

Yes, yes they do.  Again, Coralyn doesn't realize how "lucky" she was that my childbirth students were sitting in our living room.  They apparently thought watching Coralyn spread out her leaves on the floor was quite amusing and got a good laugh out of the whole thing.  At least I helped them relax a bit, though I did warn them, "This is what happens.  Your precious little baby is going to grow up and do things like this all the time!   Hope you're ready!  Welcome to parenthood!"

This morning I was going around the house, picking up toys and putting books away and making sure everything was staying all nice and neat and "picture perfect" just in case I got a call letting me know that someone wants to look at the house in a half hour, I would be ready to pack up the kiddos and leave in a matter of minutes.  As He tends to do, God whispered in my ear and challenged me with a question...

"Are you this concerned about any sin in your life?  Here you are trying to make sure there's not a speck of dust or dirt in the house, but do you put that much effort into getting rid of the sin in your life?"

Sadly, I had to admit that I don't.  Unfortunately, I thought of the verse where Jesus calls the Pharisees "white-washed tombs" that look all neat and clean on the outside but are really full of dead bones on the inside.  Ouch!  I may appear "picture perfect" and do a great job of fooling everyone, but God knows better.  He opens the closet doors.  He searches the cabinets.  He looks under the bed.  He doesn't miss a single thing, no matter how hard I may try to hide it or cover it up or disguise it.

BUT, He still loves me.

Thank goodness!

What a relief that I don't have to be "picture perfect" for God.

That doesn't mean I can sit back and relax and think I can leave things the way they are.  Yes, God accepts me just the way I am.  However, He doesn't want me to stay that way.  He wants me to do more than cram my junk away where no one sees it.  He wants me to get rid of it completely.  And He will help me take it out to the trash to ensure that I do.

I have a feeling that God is going to use this whole selling the house gig is going to teach me quite a few more lessons.  Waiting, trusting, resting, waiting, taking Him at His Word, believing His timing is best, waiting, having faith He can do the impossible, waiting, being patient when I don't get my way right away, not running ahead of Him, waiting.  Hmmmm, I sense a theme here...

For now, I am working on the idea of getting rid of sin.  My prayer for today comes from Psalm 139, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out ANYTHING in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."