Let God Get You Organized!
May 19, 2009 by Leslie
Many of you are aware that I have been working on getting my home overhauled over the last few months. This process has taken a bit longer than I originally had planned for a variety of reasons; work schedule, lack of “homes” for stuff, loss of motivation, illness, and my attitude. Last week I posted on the Total Home Overhaul group about how God has been working on my attitude. This was a turning point for me. Prior to this change, my mind was consumed with the organizational changes I needed to do before anything else. Budget and down trodden thinking put a damper on this. I kept justifying why I couldn’t move forward because I didn’t have this or I didn’t have time to complete the other. As God worked me through my attitude issues, my eyes were opened to what I CAN do right now to get it together. When God answers, He answers BIG!
One of my biggest obstacles to overcome was lack of shelf space. Like many homemakers, homesteaders, and homeschoolers, books take up a LOT of space in our home. I had an entire hallway that was just piled with books; piled HIGH! When I couldn’t pile the books any higher, I started piling them in my office. After that they got piled in boxes and such in my office closet. I didn’t stop there because every flat surface was a potential space for piling books and notebooks. The hubby and I had been pricing different bookshelves, both pre-made and supplies for building them into the wall. To be honest, as much as I needed those shelves, I couldn’t bring myself to take money from our savings to complete the project. But each week brought more grumbles from me about how I could barely breathe in our home. It never occurred to me to stop buying books or look for other resources for shelves. I had been looking at yard sales, but I kept coming across those 2 level particle board shelves that bow when any weight is put on them. I wanted what I wanted and anything less just wouldn’t do. No surprise that God wasn’t answering me with that attitude! Once I allowed God to come in and transform my attitude, a solution was found.
The hubby asked me to come to our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store to search for a small TV stand. Long story short, we had a big screen TV that had been sitting broken in our living room for almost 3 years. It took up a lot of space and since it didn’t work our bedroom became the living room; which drove me absolutely nutty. How many of you know how short a drive that is? But, I digress. The hubby had found a smaller flat screen for an absolute steal, but we had no place to put it; thus his idea to visit the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.
These stores sell used furniture, appliances, linens, housing supplies, remodeling supplies etc. They sell pretty much anything but clothing. At any rate, we get there and the sparkle shown in my eyes immediately. The hubby said, “You are like a kid in a candy store!” That was true. Here’s how God answered my prayers for an inexpensive TV stand. Quickly my hubby located a piece that fit the bill and I said yes right away. It was perfect! However, I also found a treasure trove of other pieces, including two large shelving units that would fit our hallway and solve my book problem. Here is the final list of what I wanted: 2 large shelving units of solid wood, one round pillar table for a game table, a stand for our TV, a prayer chair, and an upholstered chair. The total for the furniture was tallied @ $320; which was a good deal as purchasing shelves for the hallway cost more than that, but of course I wasn’t satisfied with the price. I talked them down to $120. Yep, you read correctly; they came down $200. We came home with our pieces and I quickly set to work. But that is NOT all!
Our book pile issue is solved. Our game area is now solved with the use of the pillar table and 2 dining chairs that I had sitting in the garage that I had picked up for free on the road side during one of my evening walks. Our TV has a home and we now use our living room for living and my bedroom for uh…sleeping. I was able to place this darling and most comfy chair in my bedroom for a prayer chair (Prayer space for me complete!). Then I turned around and sold the broken TV for $50. Total cost of the overhaul of 5 rooms: $80!
The point in telling you my story is to inspire you to give your home issues to God. He is there for everything in your life. We often overlook these issues in our times of prayer and fellowship because they seem so mundane. But the reality is that the state of our home affects our lives. In the last week I have done so much overhauling with the help of my daughter, son, and his friends, that I can’t believe we are in the same house. There are still projects on my To Do List, but it is not overwhelming and I don’t feel as if I am drowning. My mind is in a better place. Just in time as one of my daughters was in need of undistracted Mom time this weekend. I was able to give that to her, because my mind wasn’t spinning in different directions due to clutter all about. I was able to concentrate on praying with and for her.
Let God work through you as you tackle organizational issues in your home. As you open yourself up and broaden your relationship with God by including those mundane issues you will find Him transforming you in fantastic ways. God will lasso much of the chaos allowing for the much needed simplicity to flow through your life and afford you the opportunity to truly walk with Him. When our homes are less cluttered, our lives are less chaotic. The result is that we are more able to focus on devoting time to Him and His purpose for our lives; and we are better be able to listen.
Leslie Valeska is the wife of Thomas and homeschooling mother of four children who reside in SW Florida. Her family operates Fresh Gear Solutions, LLC and enjoys RVing. She is the founder and director of Simple Journey Ministries which was established to encourage, inspire, and support women on their journey to Godly womanhood. Leslie is also employed as a vintage seamstress by Vintage Vixen.
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Tracy on Tue, 19th May 2009 2:53 am
Great post! Love the store…we have one here, been wanting to go.
Anyway- had a similar experience but God said SELL the books! So I did. I sold most, gave some to friends and family and use the library now. VERY freeing! We now have 3 book shelves and that’s it! If new books don’t fit time to clean out!
Also Paperback Bookswap is great!
Tracy’s last blog post..The Perfect Gift
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Brilliant Moms on Tue, 19th May 2009 6:17 am
Your post definitely spoke to me this morning. What a wonderful shift in attitude and you’ve inspired me to see some things in a new light. Thanks for posting your experience!
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Robin @ HeartofWisdom.com on Tue, 19th May 2009 9:02 am
Super post. Thanks for the motivation and encouragement. Tweeted: “HOTM : Let God Get You Organized: God will lasso much of the chaos allowing for the much needed simplicity… http://budurl.com/8u9t“
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Sarah Chia on Tue, 19th May 2009 10:01 am
I sold a lot of my books, too, just like Tracy. I ended up getting about $150 of credit at a home school consignment store in town.
But I’m glad that YOU found great stuff at the Habitat store and then told us about it! We have one in our town that I never knew about.
I’ll have to check it out for some kitchen chairs. Our are literally falling apart.
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Misty (elvisgirl) on Tue, 19th May 2009 5:24 pm
I have tears in my eyes reading this article. This very similar to what I’m dealing with. Only my husband wants to new house to clear the clutter. I have been giving it to God and He has been dealing with things as I knew he would. I even got the idea to rid ourselves of some things & flip flop the house, which the husband was interested in, but now only wants to move. I can’t get to sleep for thinking about it all. I know just what you mean about the excuses and the attitude. I certainly had one last night! Thanks for the inspiration!
Misty (elvisgirl)’s last blog post..Mother’s Day
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Leslie Valeska on Tue, 19th May 2009 7:05 pm
Hi all! Thanks for the wonderful comments!
Misty, let me tell you where I was before God adjusted my attitude. I felt like I was drowning so badly that I told the hubby I was sending him & the kids away and hiring a construction dumpster. No one else is my house was bothered by the disorganization; just me. But it overwhelmed me. I couldn’t find SO many things…like a disc I needed for a lesson we were doing, the power cord to my sewing machine, etc.
Many here have commented about selling a lot of books. I think this is an excellent way to help surb and recoup the cost you may need for any additional storage pieces. This was not an option for our family at this time in our lives, however, I donated 8 boxes of books and curriculum to a book thriftstore. Although I didn’t make $, I had that same inner peace and have found I don’t miss a single one of them. I kept what I need, love, and will use within the next year or so. Just goes to show that God has many ways of helping us as we open our hearts to Him for direction in these areas.
I can honestly say that I actually thought moving would be easier. When our neighbors house went up for sale, I began doing the math to see if we could afford to purchase the home JUST so I could move all the school and art stuff into the house!!!! That is how desperate my mind was becoming without allowing God to put the simplicity in place for me.
I will be praying for you. Email me any time if you have questions, need an idea, or just need encouragement!
)
Leslie Valeska’s last blog post..Asian Meatball Recipe
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Ann on Wed, 20th May 2009 5:04 pm
I love this post! Wow! I have to share with you that God has brought me through a lot of this, too. Before we moved about ten months ago, God had me really, really whittle down the “stuff.” And, since then I’ve tried to be very diligent to whittle down even more. But, recently we were just dealing with chaos in our school area. I had my want list, too. I really wanted one of those hanging storage things with the pouches, nice little portfolio containers for the girls, and a desk for myself, among a list of other things! I was irritable and struggling with the solutions, knowing we had ZERO money to spend. I finally surrendered it to the Lord and asked Him to instead just give me the wisdom to solve the organizational problems. Immediately He began to answer! My darling hubby came home with an unneeded desk that had been thrown in to the pile when a company was donating furniture to our new local Crisis Pregnancy Center. He also brought home some discarded stacking file trays and came up with solutions for several other of my storage issues from supplies we had on hand. That got my creative juices flowing, and I was able to solve a couple of other problems myself. Finally, there was one thing that I was going to have to make – the wall-hanging with pouches for storing loose flashcards. But before I got around to sorting through material to try to make something, someone handed me a huge bag at church one Wednesday night. Inside were leftover chair cushions and material from a project she’d done so that I could make cushions for the kids’ chairs. Tucked beneath them was a little kit she’d bought and then not needed. It was a bunch of fabric squares in my girls’ favorite colors with heart pockets on them. There were also matching ribbons and holes in the squares to tie them all together to form a hanging pocketed “quilt!” It was something that would have been simple for me to make, but I didn’t have all of those precious colors! God provided something absolutely PERFECT!
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Kathy on Mon, 25th May 2009 10:25 am
Now I’m reallymotivated. That was such good article, and I KNOW that God wants us more organized as Moms so we can enjoy even more that He’s called us to do.
Kathy’s last blog post..Multiplication
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Heart of the Matter Online bridging the gap between child and parent | Wood TV Stand on Sun, 31st May 2009 7:43 pm
[...] Heart of the Matter Online bridging the gap between child and parent Posted by root 2 hours 29 minutes ago (http://heartofthematteronline.com) Here how god answered my prayers for an inexpensive tv stand shelving units of solid wood one round pillar table for a game table a stand for our tv and oh if you want a pic to show with your comment go get a gravatar rights reserved theme by brian gardne Discuss | Bury | News | Heart of the Matter Online bridging the gap between child and parent [...]