Not as Planned
Living life picture perfect.
This was not the post originally planned for today, but sometimes plans need to change.
The heart behind livableYOU is people walking alongside each other instead of teaching at each other. As such, I strive to make my blog contributions as relatable as I can. Sometimes that means a change of plans and a look behind the curtain.
It was a gloriously cloudy, rainy, spring day here in Kentucky. I wish I could say I am always the mom that embraces the splash-in-the-puddle-and-run-through-the-rain mentality. I used to be like that before adulting kicked into high drive. Now I struggle to find balance between wanting my kids to experience the joy of cool raindrops on their cheeks and the squish of wet socks in a soaked rain boot vs figuring out how to keep ALL THAT MUD out of our house, off of our walls and away from our furniture.
Don’t get me wrong - our house is a very lived in home. There are no upcoming visits from a tv network to document our real-life farmhouse, chic look. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t do my best to keep our home as tidy as I can with a family of 6, 2 outside cats who’s main goal in life is to streak inside anytime the door opens and a new puppy (yeah, we’re nuts).
Today I chose to let them experience the messy wonder of life. Then, I focused on calmly directing the cleanup of the aftermath.
That’s when plans changed for today’s post.
An hour of muddy, rainy chaos (complete with showers in an overflowing gutter waterfall) ended with four tired, giggly and really muddy children. The oldest three can navigate showers and baths without a significant amount of parental intervention. The youngest…not so much. To prevent little muddy hand prints all the way up the hallway, he first ran around stark naked on the porch while I finished up a call conference and then we ventured to the kitchen sink.
My sweet little man. Clean, bubbles in hand, enjoying a moment of pure joy.
Picture perfect.
What you don’t see…
The dirty dishes had to be moved to clear out the sink for the sweet bath time moment above.
Also picture perfect.
That pile of dishes (well really all clutter if I’m being honest) are a source of anxiety for me. Yet, if the sweet moments are surrounded by the messes left by a life well lived, doesn’t that mean they are all different versions of the same sweet moments? Those dishes surrounding that sweet, little boy represent blessings. They were not yet clean because we were busy living in the moment. They were dirtied because we are blessed with food to eat and mouths to feed. I could have (and have several times before) snapped the first picture and then rushed bath time to have a clean boy and clean kitchen, but I would have missed the lesson. My messy life - your messy life - is made picture perfect by the way we choose to see it.
written by Kelli Keller
