Lots of Clutter

I finally bit the bullet, forced a smile, and entered the danger zone...my garage. Much to my dismay it has gotten WAY out of hand and unorganized. Over the past 2 years I have thrown STUFF in there and walked away quickly with my eyes closed. I guess if I didn't look at it directly, it wouldn't affect me. Was I ever wrong! It has come back to haunt me at the worst possible time. My daughter has her 16th birthday party on the heels of Thanksgiving and guess where the teens will gather? Yep, our garage. And what's worse is the fact that it was MY suggestion they have it in there to cut down on party expenses...What in the world was I thinking?! I knew the minute it was out of my mouth there would be one person cleaning up that horrible mess and it wouldn't be my daughter, or my husband, or my 3 yr old, or my 7 yr old. I won't even take the baby in there at all. I'm the type person that will throw it all away no matter about sentiment if its not being used or hasn't been used in a while. So I was thinking all I needed was a construction bin for everything, toss it all in and WAA LA, all would be done...time to decorate. But then my husband comes into the picture. It seems that he has some things in that garage that he would like to keep. Also one by one each child has voiced their preference of things they desire to hold onto. My plan has been aborted. I won't be needing the construction bin or even extra waste cans. The one lone black can from the city will do fine.

Well, being the thinker that I am I have decided the CLEAN look will do fine for decor. My daughter doesn't share the same vision of course but I can see how simply clean can be sooo appealing. Just as I was about to put my mommy authority to work, you know the Lord would have to speak. He always gets me right when it counts! Mouth shut, ears attentive, heart apprehensive, expecting to hear great encouragement, and He says..."Just who's party is this anyway? Is it yours? Wasn't it your idea to make it something special for Amber? Why are you so agitated about removing the clutter? Don't you know its going to make things much better? And a little time of decorating is going to prove to be worth it for your daughter."
Yes, I pouted. Then I put my lip back in, took a deep breath and went back to work. Hey I wonder if Nehemiah ever had a day like this when he was working on the wall. He always seemed to have it together. I mean this guy had a PLAN and made things happen. I could use him about now. Oh God, send me some Nehemiah's!!!

I figure as I lose myself in the work (or the clutter at this point) maybe the Lord will speak again and we'll have a better conversation this time. It seems that I have some inside clutter He is dealing with while I'm working on the obvious. Isn't it like the Lord to use something as simple as cleaning my garage to stress the need for de-cluttering my heart? Wonder how He will want me to decorate in there... probably add some fruit.