Putting Things Away

I am not sure if it's been the long frozen winter months and the amount of boots, gloves, hats, scarves, and snow pants that clutter my small cabin. Or if it's the panick nearly every Sunday morning because we can't seem to find one cowboy boot for Ty or Sally is aimlessly wondering around with 2 left sweater boots in her arms. It could be the boys' "speed shoes" (which are brilliantly named so by their Pal, Judah) laying under the table or in the deep dark whole of the toy box. It could also be Lou's ballet clothes and Bet's one ragged piano book  and their notebooks they use for Children's Church. And now that I think of it, it could also be the mountain of sweaters, hoodies, light jackets, heavy coats, rain coats, dress coats, and full on Walls coveralls, used for feeding the chickens and the pony in sub zero weather all stuffed into our lives. Sigh...

Regardless of which overstuffed, spilling over, lost and out of place items it is, it has got me thinking. Puting things away where they belong is really important. I have heard myself say this 1,437 times. I have heard it said many more times than that and I often find that I mutter it to myself when my bedroom gets beyond belief. "It would be so much easier to find what I need if it had just been put back where it belongs."

And this got me thinking about hurt feelings, lessons learned, and misunderstandings. When something happens and I get rubbed the wrong way or if I perceive that someone has intentionally hurt me, I should put my response back where it belongs. Sometimes that means throw it away, forget about it and let it go. Other times it could mean to step back for a second and just think about what happened and have it close enough to the surface that you don't harbor it as bitterness but it will be right where you put it when you need to try and resolve it. The part that I struggle with is the way I just put my reaction anywhere it might fit. Like stuffing ballet shoes in the bench full of wet snow gloves. Or tossing my cowboy boots in with the snowboots. It gets frustrating and confusing when we need something and spend too much time trying to find it. If I am offended or just plain hurt or if I misread something and just need clarity, I often just simmer down and in trying to "forget about it" or "let it go" I am actually tossing or cramming it in a space it does not belong in. Sooner or later I will need to find it to try and resolve the conflict and turmoil in my soul and likely settle a similar turmoil in someone else. But I will be hard pressed to find it. And when I do find it, it won't be in the shape I need it to be in. Like the shabby old piano book that should be placed in the piano bench, if it's carelessly shoved into a backpack or a shelf with other books or left in the car to be used as carpet, it won't be what we need when we find it. Things that are out of place can depreciate and lose their effectiveness. 

This seems a bit odd, maybe even far reaching but it makes sense to me. I have a handful of missing things that I have been searching for in my own soul and I just found one today. It's not what I need, it doesn't look at all like I remember and I have been unable to relate to someone God has put in my life because of it. 

For the sake of your busy life and the sanity of your own home or for the sake of your heart that will get hurt, let's put things back where they belong.