ORDER!

Isn't trying to get your home in order such a mundane task? Everything in place, nice and tiddy! It's hard when you have little ones to keep it where you want it to be, and then the Christmas holidays, and all those gifts, blast in on you.

We've been out of town over the Christmas holidays (about 9 days), and returned with a vanload of "stuff." It is often said, if you really want to learn how to pack a vehicle, GO TO COLLEGE! Any college kid around is an expert with packing out a car, but my ex-college husband can probably outpack any newfound college kid on the block. He's an expert car packer, filling every nook and cranny. So when we returned and unloaded, there was stuff everywhere, on the table, on the floors, in every room of the house. I didn't even know where to begin -- toys, boxes, paper! My head was spinning! Did all of this stuff come out of our van?

So we started cleaning the most unlikely room in the house -- the basement! We threw away old furniture, tiddied up the place, and then threw all the toys downstairs -- into our new toy room!

Our family serves an orderly God, one who hung every star twinkling in the sky and every planet placed just so in the universe. He made everything beneath the waters, and on land. And when everything was just so, he made man to enjoy all of his creation. He made everything in precise order. BUT WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE FLOORS IN YOUR HOUSE, WHO CAN EVEN ENJOY THE LOVELY CREATIONS AROUND YOU! So I decided if I wanted our family to be more like the God we serve, we had better get our act together!!

So I did what any good Christian would do, I made a trip to Wal-Mart! I purchased tons of plastic boxes with little drawers and then headed for the basement. All the Barbies now have a home, all the superhero figures have a home, all the sword and shields that my son possesses have a home, and our crafts have a home. It's neat, it's orderly, it's God ordained!

I love it when my home is super clean. Probably because it doesn't happen often. Our friend Noah came over last night and when he walked he, he said, "Wow, your house is clean. And you actually have a table!!" I soon remarked to Noah, "Oh, yeah, I guess you've actually never seen our house clean before." Come to think of it, I don't know the last time I remember it being this clean. AND I'M NOT FINISHED YET! I haven't even made my way to the office or the bathrooms. Maybe by the end of the week!! And then next week we can get back to our regularly-scheduled program -- SCHOOL!

Now, anybody have any suggestions on how to keep my said five-year-old from dragging his toys back up the stairs!!???