It was a typical weekend for us, cleaning, laundry, playing with the kids and doing more laundry. Oh yeah, did I mention we had a three week old baby girl? Our typical laundry folding process is to wash the clothes throughout the week then fold them on the weekend. This results in a living room filled with piles of clothes ALL OVER THE FLOOR. And when I mean all over, I mean 15-18 loads of laundry placed on the floor, in hope that no little feet will knock them over.
In the busyness of that Sunday morning, I folded two more loads, just to have two more to be dropped in its place. UGH. That was it, I had met my limit of being able to handle the mess and the chaos and couldn't take it anymore. I snapped at my husband on our way to church because my anxiety was so high, I ate cookies before we left, and sat in a heap in the front seat, all because of the laundry on the floor.
So there I sat in our sweet Southern church praising the Lord whom I love, when I heard in my heart "Sweet child, just leave the laundry on the floor." Excuse me? Lord, why are you concerned with my laundry? As I sat in my chair and had a soundless conversation with the Lord of the Universe about the piles of laundry on my living room floor, I realized how concerned the Lord is with every aspect of my life. You see, the piles on the floor were so much more that clean clothes that needed to be put away. They were a picture of the chaos in my life that comes with having three children under the age of 5. So I left all that laundry on my floor throughout the whole day and put it away that night. It was a true struggle to not let the messy-ness affect my thoughts, my mood, my eating habits, and my relationships with others; but it worked. I learned in a very tangible way how to trust God in the chaos and let His peace be mine.
This life lesson that occurred more than seven months ago still teaches me how to respond to chaos and how to let the peace of the Lord live within me and within my family. It still reminds me how to be filled up with His mighty presence and not temporary fixes like cleanliness, food, or any other thing. "Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3: 22-24
As you go about your day and confront whatever lies ahead, may you rest in God's sufficiency and grace. In your piles of chaos, let His peace be yours.
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