I will be the first to admit that I can be better about housekeeping. It’s not that I don’t want to maintain a perfectly clean house; however, I have struggled to managed all of the components of what that means (i.e.: What systems of cleaning and organization need to be in place so that the house looks the way I want?).  With both Preacherman and I having demanding work schedules, along with leading a church, and parenting, tasks sometimes find themselves waiting to be completed late in the evenings, early in the mornings, or on weekends. We manage; however, it’s a goal to improve these systems and to simplify our life to truly be good stewards of the home that we have been blessed to have.

While I feel an urge to improve on systems for laundry, and vacuuming, and even the dishes; there’s an area that simultaneously annoys me, yet fills my heart to the brim: windows and walls.

Kids touch everything. It’s how they learn, and supervised exploring is healthy. On a daily basis, I find myself correcting BabyAlmondJoy as he touches all the things all the time.  And this touching and exploring means that I have windows and walls full of smudged prints, from tiny hands that are growing far faster than I can imagine.

The part of me that likes clean wants these smudged prints to go away.  I can say with a great deal of certainty that when my mother visits in a few months, she will ask me about when I last cleaned those windows or will remind me that a magic eraser or some touch up paint can easily fix the walls. But at the same time, my mama heart loves this beautiful evidence of the presence of a sweet boy who is starting to love learning and exploration a little more than he loves sitting in his mama’s lap.

So, if (when) you come over and see you see those smudged prints, don’t judge my housekeeping.  Instead, please pray for my mama heart to embrace the beauty of her baby growing far faster than she can grasp and to learn to love each phase of the journey- smudged prints and all.

Until next time…

Be encouraged! Peace and blessings!