You should know how much I love organizing things. My pantry, my closets, my car… I have tricks for organizing giftwrapping and my makeup.
I have a strict schedule that helps me remember when to organize what. I have schedules for everything.
I keep track of my schedules on all of my DIY chalkboards around my house.
I’m not bragging or anything, but decorating my house just comes so naturally. I have picture collages everywhere and you can barely find a place in my house that isn’t decorated with an old wood pallet or die-cut word art.
My entire house gets redecorated for the various seasons or birthdays. From the fonts I use on the invitations to the five layer cakes, birthdays around here are always awesome.
Don’t get me started on my closet. Only the latest trends for me. No t-shirts or hoodies here. Only adorable cardigans and statement necklaces with coordinating nail polish. I take photos of all of my outfits and just flip through the catalogs of looks every morning.
Then, I style my hair. I never wear my hair the same way twice. Braids forwards and backwards and side to side. It’s kind of like my eye makeup. There are just so many ways to wear it and I’m basically a pro.
I could go on, but I need to go finish preparing dinner. I have a month of prepared ahead freezer meals, but I just love to cook something new and fancy each night. I make sure to photograph them all.
I also have all of my Christmas present purchased already. Truthfully, most of them were homemade and include gluten free nut free milk free products packaged in mason jars tied up with burlap and lace. I just love to craft and never seem to run out of free time.
… OH yah. None of that is true. If only my Pinterest boards were real life…
I used to spend hours on Pinterest every night. After the kids went to bed, I would light up my computer screen with bright images of recipes, projects, and outfits. I would make nice little categories of the things that I enjoy. I wasn’t looking for anything specific. I was just browsing. It was like a virtual magazine with no final page.
What I quickly noticed was how I responded to the time that I spent on the site. I loved my beautiful home until I saw all the ways that it could be better. I felt like I dressed nicely until I saw a million fashion ideas that were way out of my budget. Even birthday parties for my babies that had been full of laughter seemed less awesome because I hadn’t coordinated the cupcake labels with the food place cards.
I began to notice how much I didn’t have, and I ended my time on the site feeling unsatisfied with every blessing in my life. Unknowingly, I began to make wish lists for things that didn’t come with pictures.
If I had more money, my closet would look like this. If I had more time, my home would be organized like this. If I had unlimited resources, I would look act-eat-dress-decorate-create-bake-make-and be this person.
What began as my harmless wish list, became a measuring stick by which I ruled that I would never have enough. I would never have enough time, money, or resources.
I had been collecting wants.
Please hear me. I am not demonizing the site. I have found many helpful tricks and it is an invaluable resource for so many useful ideas. Pinterest itself is not a bad thing! Pinterest combined with my selfish desire for more… is not good at all.
I know how my heart works. It is never satisfied. I could have my entire home decorated and still want more. I could have a closet full of beautiful new clothes and continue to covet. The temptation to want “more” is as old as time itself. God gave Eve every tree but one in the garden, and temptation told her to take it too. Today, I pay the price for her enticement. The good news is that Jesus paid the price for me.
He gently reminds me that I don’t need any of it. He tells me to find my worth in Him – To realize that my position in this world will never depend on what I hold in my hands or display on my walls or wear on my body, but depends on who lives in my heart.
The realest part of me knows that what I have is not nearly as important as whose I am. My identity is found in Christ alone.
I am a child of the Most-High God. He knows me. He sees me. He tells me to give it all away, and He will bless it. He tells me to pour out all I can offer, and He will fill me up again.
When the world tells me, “You will always be one step behind the Jones,’” my God reminds me that I walk shoulder to shoulder with the King of Kings. When the world says, “You need it,” God says, “I am all you need.”
I am sure of this one thing: I could possess every desire of my heart, and I would still feel empty without knowing the love of God. He is the purpose of life – to know Him and be known by Him. In Scripture, Solomon says that everything else is just grasping for the wind. That Solomon guy was a smart fellow.
…And if we can stay distracted by the things we hold in our hands, then we might not ever come to know the power that is locked inside of who we are.
That, friends, is exactly what I had done. I had stopped focusing on all of the blessings given to me from the Father. Like a selfish child I had thrown it all down in my heart and told Him it wasn’t good enough.
Praise the Lord that His kindness has corrected my heart. He knows how I think. He knows how my heart works, and yet He has given me the grace (through Him) to change both.
In the season of thankfulness, I’m taking a moment to remember what I have already been given. I am making a choice to put away all of the desires of tomorrow, and focus on all of the blessings of today. He has given me more than any board could hold.
And you know… this might just be something worth pinning. 😉
