Confessions of a Messy Mom

Ok, I admit it...I'm coming clean...I am messy. Actually, messy is an understatement. I am a walking tornado. Yes, that sounds about right. A walking tornado. I leave a path of destruction everywhere I go...at home, at work...everywhere. Ok, well I guess not everywhere, just at my places. I'm not proud of this. It's pretty embarrassing, actually. I'm just incredibly messy.

Problem is, my husband is incredibly messy too. If I'm a walking tornado, he's the massive hurricane. He blows through the house and leaves destruction as well. This is a problem. You see, in most marriages, there is one or the other in the relationship. You may have one messy, and the other is a total clean freak (btw, clean freaks...I SO admire you). They kind of balance each other out.

Not Channing and me. We both leave destruction (our poor kids!). I can have the house totally clean, and in like 30 minutes, it's a complete disaster. I mean, how does that happen? I've tried all kinds of things to get better: I've attended an organization seminar (I left with more clutter), I joined flylady (yet another thing to keep up with. Who has the time? Plus, she says, "Don't expect it to happen overnight. Things didn't get a mess overnight, and it can't be fixed overnight." I beg to differ. As I said earlier, we do make messes VERY quickly), I've prayed about, I've quizzed the clean freaks. So far, my inspiration always wears off.

Just three months ago, God led me to Proverbs 31 and showed me the error of my ways (as He lovingly tends to do). I was also reminded of 1 Corinthians 14:33 of the NIV : "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." It was the inspiration I needed. I was on fire. My home looked great (we're not counting closets and drawers here, ok?). I felt great. Then things went back to normal. I got super busy, and my house got super messy. I'm now back where I started. In a pit of messiness, trying to claw my way out.

How about you? Are you a clean freak, or are you messy? Clean freaks, let me in on your secrets. What is it that drives you to insanity if you see a piece of lint on the floor? What is it about crayons on the floor that makes you twitch? Can you pass that on to me? Believe me, I would take it. I want it. I need some of that.
You see, it bothers me to have a mess, but I get so overwhelmed that I don't know where to begin.
Realistically, I don't think I'll ever be a clean freak (although my mom wasn't either until a few years ago, now she's a super clean freak like my grandmother. It kind of gives me hope). I would like to be somewhat orderly, though.

If you're messy, let me know, why is it that you're messy? What are your challenges? Am I alone in this?

As for my opening sentence, I just read it and found it kind of ironic, "Ok, I admit it...I'm coming clean... IF ONLY I were coming clean. Ha! :) Oh! That's not a personal picture of one of my messes, but it sure does come close!