Bird's Eye View

The cleaning of the bedroom... sigh... Is there any other mother who wants to scream with a good deal of regularity over this chore of their children's? I do! Sheesh. This is my children's least favorite task during our morning routine, particularly during the summer time, and I often find myself reminding...and reminding...and reminding...and then reminding some more! During the school year, we rarely have this problem which I attribute to the good solid routine that school keep us in.

However, summertime brings an air of leniency from the momma of the house... Yep, that would be me, I'm the momma. :o) I often find myself letting them slide here and there with chores, cleaning and such. I find myself saying... They are on their summer vacation! Let them have some fun and not worry about responsibilities! They have their whole life to be grown, let them just be kids! Since these are all very true statements and kiddos just need a break now and again, there is one tool I use to keep bedrooms and playrooms from becoming unbearable...

It's something I learned from one of my supervisors over the years. She used to call it a bird's eye view. Stand in the room's doorway and scan the room for anything that hasn't yet been cared for, i.e. - bed made? laundry picked up? wet towels hung? (insert general clean up rules of your own home ;o)) This has been a great tool for during the summer when regular routines are somewhat scarce. In the morning as we are getting ready for the day,  I simply call out "Bird's eye view, Ladies!" The bedrooms and playrooms stay relatively habitable and momma refrains from screaming in frustration which is a good thing for us all. ;o)

As I called out this reminder to my girls the other day, the Lord asked me a question... "When was the last time you gave your heart a bird's eye view?" Now, mind you, I'd been having my time with the Lord, but I must say, during the summer, there are a few more interruptions from little feet coming down the hall way too early, and some days "boxes checked" rather than "heart surrendered" is more the theme of my quiet time... true confessions... :o)

So, as you might imagine, I was very convicted by this question posed. Have I spent time making certain my heart is cleaned and tidied? Have I stood in the doorway of my heart and checked for things that need to be cleaned up? Do I see any envy? How about malice? Deceit lying around? Is hypocrisy hiding under the bed?

"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind."

- 1 Peter 2:1

God wrote through the Apostle Peter a few of the things that can make their way into my heart fairly subtly and unnoticed. It's so important that I maintain a time to search my heart for these things that can affect my day to day behavior in ways I don't always realize. A bird's eye view of the heart can give me a glimpse of whatever has wadded itself into a ball in the corner of my heart. I want to keep my heart a habitable place for my Lord. ;o)

Oh! By the way, the above pic is Chloe's side of the room, so the below pic had to be included of Abbi's side of the room to allow for fairness, you understand... ;o)