Putting Things Away

Confession time:  I’m not a naturally tidy person.  I have a hard time putting things away in their proper place.

Don’t get me wrong–I love a neat and tidy house.  I’m just not good at it.

I also confess that I’ve let my house go a bit.  Especially during 2017, which was a particularly stressful year for me.  My priorities were all out of whack, my stress level was through the roof, and I felt ineffectual at home.

But lately I have felt a strong pull towards putting in the extra physical and mental effort (yes, it does take mental effort too) to keep things more orderly.  I have been setting my house in order, which is no small task when you’ve let your house go a bit…for a long time!  I’ve been dejunking, organizing, cleaning.  The effort has been, well, a lot of effort!  But the results have been so liberating.  It reminds me of this scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 93:43:

And now a commandment I give unto you—if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.

Delivered!

Yes, I felt delivered when I finally cleaned out my laundry room and threw away/donated the items that had been stuffed on shelves or tucked into corners.  Delivered when I finally tackled my gross cleaning closet filled with unused or empty cleaning bottles.  Delivered when I let go of items in my closet, kitchen, craft room, and pantry that hadn’t been used in years and are now either in the garbage or on their way to a donation site to bless someone else.

My cleaning closet now….man, I wish I had taken a before pic because it was MESSY!!

And while that scripture certainly hits the nail on the head for the physical order in my home, there’s another kind of order that I had not considered.

As I sorted, straightened, and cleaned my cleaning closet (ironic that it was one of the worst-cleaned areas in the house…the cleaning closet!) my mind began to wonder.  How did I let it get this bad?  Isn’t it so much nicer to have fewer things to keep track of? I can’t believe how relieved and happy this is making me–just putting things away in their proper place.

Putting things away in their proper place.  

I’m not quite sure how my thoughts then progressed (probably the Spirit, right?) but I began to think of other things that need to be put away.

Grudges.  Offenses.  Stress.  Judgments.

….and so on.

And where is the proper place for these?  If I put these “away” would I feel the same kind of relief, peace, and deliverance?

Duh.

The only place I can think of to put these is with the Lord.  What’s the saying–let go and let God?  Let go of those wasteful, dust-collecting, soul-draining, energy-sucking thoughts and feelings and let Him worry about it.  The weight of those mental loads is really a lot heavier than we realize.  And once that weight is lifted, we can enjoy that sweet feeling of deliverance.

It will have to be a matter of prayer, I think.

Please help me to see him/her as You see him/her.

Please help me to see myself as You do.

Please help me to forgive as I hope You will forgive me.

Please help me to handle this challenge with the Spirit.

If prayer is a form of work, then maybe the best time to pray for these things is when I’m actually working on cleaning my home.  While I’m in the middle of sorting, cleaning, organizing, and dejunking, why not reach out to the Lord and ask for his help in tidying up my mind and heart? 

Because honestly, I’m ready for that kind of deliverance too.