A Beautiful Mess

A couple weeks back, I was asked to write an introduction to this year's theme for our MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) program that I help coordinate. Since I know a lot of you readers are fellow moms, I thought I'd share it on this space too as we all need to learn that our mess is beautiful and to embrace the story we are in.

A Beautiful Mess. Embrace your story.

"Moms live in messes. The toys, crumbs, and spit-up are their natural surroundings. Moms often feel like a mess. They are exhausted, under-showered, and hormonal. Their past and present circumstances and decisions can leave them feeling inadequate for God’s love and purposes.  A Beautiful Mess — reminds moms that beauty can come out of their difficult spots. The grime of mothering young children brings the beauty of motherhood. The bruises of life can bring God’s redemption. Embrace Your Story — reminds moms that their past, present and future can be used for good. God knows where each of us has been, where we are today and has set in motion where we are headed."

Ephesians 2:10 (New Living Translation)  

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.    

I find it sort of ironic that I am the one introducing this year's MOPS theme "A Beautiful Mess."  I am that person who can't relax in a room if the throw pillows are crooked.  The dust accumulating on my blinds has been haunting me for years now and every time I sit down in the kitchen, I can literally hear the dried milk splatters crusted to my table legs screaming to be scrubbed.  I notice every fleck of lint on my carpet and have every scratch on the wall memorized.  I definitely do not naturally find messes beautiful.  If I'm being totally honest, I must confess I even cringe momentarily when my daughter asks me to get down the craft bin.  Oh the inevitable mess!  Do I have it in me to clean up the confetti of papers and stickers when it's all said and done? 

I don't think it was happenstance that my eldest set aside Friday, the eve before our big MOPS leadership training, as the night she wanted to paint.  For me, painting is an activity we reserve for places like Sunday School or preschool, where there are others responsible for the clean up.  I am quick to suggest that we take down even the dreaded craft bin over paintbrushes and paint.  But every once in a while, when my guard is down, I oblige.

That was Friday for me.  I was trying to be a "good mom."  Through gritted teeth, I repeatedly refilled each of my daughters' paint supply, inwardly flinching as I watched the paint begin to cover their faces, clothes, the wall, the table.  I wish I could say it was then when I paused and remembered to cherish their dyed little hands and see the beauty in the mess.  But it wasn't.  

It isn't just the physical mess that we moms wrestle with.  We are often a mess emotionally too.  I'm at a coffee shop alone right now.  Sounds lovely, I know, but let me tell you, the morning that led up to this moment wasn't so lovely.  I am here only because I had a severe case of "word vomit" where I spewed hundreds of irrational thoughts (and tears) to my husband in an I-don't-even-know-what-I-want-or-need fashion.  They left him bewildered and confused but he was able to read through the lines enough to quickly gift me with some much-needed alone time (smart man!!)  This is my reality and I'm pretty sure we've all been there.

Going back to the paint story, I really didn't see any beauty in the mess in the moment.  It wasn't until later that evening, after I'd hurriedly scrubbed my kids' hands and arms, soaked their clothes, scoured the kitchen, after I'd moodily ushered them to bed that it hit me.  I finally sat down to prepare a devotional for the MOPS training in the morning that followed when I stopped short.  Here I was about to try to convince fellow mothers of the beauty in their messy lives when I couldn't even see it in my own.  How could I be so dense?  My precious children, my creative children.  Gifts from God.  What's a little paint on the wall in comparison to the twinkle of delight in their eyes as they make something colorful and exciting out of what was once a plain white piece of paper?

I wish I could say that with that, I am now able to wholeheartedly embrace messiness.  But it's not the case.  I still long for a neat and orderly life and though I know some of this desire is God-given, I also know that this is an area where I need to relinquish control.  I need to learn to EMBRACE and be OK with chaos.  This is my life.  Is it yours too?

It is my prayer as we launch into this MOPS year, that we would learn to not only see but also to embrace our beautifully, messy lives.  To welcome each other in and be honest about the good, the bad and the ugly.  And the dirty.  God can and does use us, no matter where we have been. We are God's masterpiece. Created anew in Christ to do the good things He has planned for us.  I hope this brings you as much hope as it does me!