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Is your laundry room winning?  I know it can feel like it sometimes, (maybe most of the time?)

When we built our home we positioned it to take advantage of a beautiful view of the mountains.  We didn’t realize when we designed the house that no one would end up walking around to our “front door,”  but would instead come in through our laundry room.  Instant accountability!  I certainly didn’t want a big pile of laundry to be the first thing my friends saw as they entered my home.  Beyond being an entryway, my laundry room is also not so much a “room” as a walkway from the kitchen to the pantry and family room.  As you can imagine I traverse that way many times a day.  What I have found is that makes it very easy to keep up on the laundry.  I will throw in a load as I pass by, or switch wet clothes to the dryer.  Most of the time this keeps the dirty pile under control.

In a lot of houses the laundry room is off in a corner, in a garage, or downstairs.  This can make it easy for the laundry pile to grow to scary proportions making us want to avoid it.  Besides, who knows what is lurking in there?  You don’t want to hear about my mildew horror stories from the past.

All this made me think about us and the “laundry rooms” we have inside ourselves.  When we are more open with our close friends and invite accountability in our lives, we keep the scary emotional baggage, (or dirty laundry!) to a minimum.  However when we stuff it away in the basement of our souls, it just sits there, molding and festering and eventually causing a lot of problems.  Just like clothing is easier to wash as it gets dirty, hurts are best dealt with when they happen.  I mean, who really wants to dig into a two-week old gym bag, much less something someone said to you a month ago that is still sitting in your heart, wounding you.

I would encourage you this week to reach out to a friend.  Tell them what’s on your heart and ask them what is going on in their life too.  Give yourself permission to receive and give grace.  Remember we are in this life together, dirty laundry and all!

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;  wash me and I will be whiter than snow.”  Psalm 51:7

My home-made laundry soap recipe:

Warm 2 quarts water in a big metal pot.  Grate 1/6 of a bar of Ivory soap into it. Whisk in 1/4 cup Borax and 1/4 cup Washing Soda gradually, (this is different from the baking soda you would cook with.)  Pour into 1 gallon bottle and add hot water until full.  Shake occasionally until cooled.

Have you ever longed for a “do-over” in life, remember those from childhood?  When you would miss the ball, or fall down in a running race you could just shout out, “Do-over!” and everything was okay again.

In grown up life, things don’t seem to be that easy.  You have probably seen or at least heard of the movie, ‘Groundhog Day’.  In the movie, Phil gets stuck living the same day over and over again, which so happened to be Groundhog Day.  Basically Phil got unlimited do-overs.

We might think, “That’s great, but that is just a movie, in real life there are no fresh starts.”  However, with God there are!  We get brand-new grace every single morning.  An automatic do-over from God Himself.  Jesus takes all the mess ups from the day before, all the ugliness, all the hurts and mistakes onto Himself and gives us grace, undeserved favor instead.

As Phil learned in the movie, it is what we do with that grace that really matters.  He started from a place of selfish recklessness and despair, then he realized that the only thing that he could change in his life of repeated Groundhog days was himself.  From that point on he started to work on himself and also on serving others.  I am probably pulling a lot out of what is not actually the most edifying movie in the world, but I think that is what it comes down to for us as well, what are we going to do with the fresh grace we are given today?

Today could be the day we finally forgive someone, today could be the day we say no to destructive habits in our lives, today could be the day we are set free.  How awesome and amazing is that?

Hebrews 3:13  “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today.”

Lamentations 3:22-23  “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions, (or grace) never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Quite the question isn’t it?  One I have always found difficult to answer.  I seem to be able to understand others fairly well, but when it comes to myself it is a different story.  I am guessing this might be true for more people than just me.

We all have messages we received in childhood.  Unfortunately, some of these messages were not the most kind or even the most accurate.  The problem is, we believed what we were told.

For instance, maybe you were told you were clumsy.  Throughout your life, any time you take a misstep you hear a little voice reminding you how clumsy you are.  We can even try to change who we are based on negative feedback from others.  I always felt that my personality was a little too much, the message I heard was to hold myself back some, don’t be too enthusiastic.  So consequently, I did.

Trying to battle the false messages rolling around in our heads is difficult.  However, the Bible has a lot of truths in it to arm us for this battle.  We are told in Romans 8:1 that we are no longer condemned if we are in Christ.  Then in Galatians 5:1 it reminds us, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again.”  Such as with things like accusing whispers from our past.

I love what it says in Ephesians 4:24, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Isn’t that awesome?  Jesus can take away all the negative ideas of who we think we are, and allow us to be our true, whole, new selves in Him.

Of course, it does still take some practice to be who we really are.  I’m not quite there yet, but when I get to the point where I can truly be who I really am, I will walk into the room, throw my arms wide and say, “I’m here!”  And for the first time, I will be.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:32

Don’t worry, this isn’t a post on saving trees or holding your breath lest you add to the greenhouse effect.  I’m talking about your more  immediate environment.  Our physical, emotional, and spiritual environments affect us more than we realize.  For example, I used to keep my desk in our living room. Having so many small children it just made sense.  I could use my “command center” without leaving the main living area because we all know what happens when mom steps out of the room for a moment!

When I decided to start writing however, I knew I would never be able to concentrate while in the midst of boisterous family life.  My walk-in closet is finished doing double duty as a nursery, so I moved my desk in there.  I was surprised how great my “writing studio” felt and I am encouraged and comfortable when I sit down at my computer.

Just like our physical environment, our internal emotional environment can affect us.  If we are allowing our negative emotions to rule us, our environment will lack peace.  I want my home to be a place of encouragement and laughter.  I want to smile at my children and give out lots of hugs.  I find when I focus on being grateful for the gifts God has given me it is so much easier to do these things.

Our spiritual environment, our hearts and souls, are the most important environments to change.  When I allow my heart to soften towards God and His best for me, I am transformed.  I am a control freak by nature so for a long time I tried to change my heart and soul on my own.  It never worked.  When I finally surrendered to God’s grace and amazing love, my internal spiritual environment changed.  In some areas it changed so much that I no longer recognized myself!  In other areas it is an ongoing process.  I have to remember to let God refashion my heart after His every day.  I am encouraged to do this when I think of David in the Bible, who even though he is called a man after God’s own heart  spends pages in the Psalms writing of the journey of his own continuing heart transformation.

As we move into the new year I pray that you will feel empowered to change your own environment!

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  David in Psalm 51:10

For a link on how to create a clutter-free workspace click here!

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, “New Year’s goals?  I haven’t even cleaned up the last of the wrapping paper from Christmas!”  But bear with me, I’ll be kind.

I have been thinking a lot about goals lately and how people succeed or fail in reaching their goals.  Having a goal is a great thing, however I recently read a quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that says, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

So how do we go from having a great vision or goal to actually accomplishing it?  I am a huge fan of the one step in front of the other approach.  I recently called this “bridge building” in a conversation I was having.  I was not thinking of a huge bridge like the Golden Gate, but more like a rock path across a waterway that is just a little too deep to wade.  I pictured each step as a rock you place one at a time in front of you, as you move toward your goal on the other side.

The really great thing about doing things a step at a time is the momentum effect.  You may only be making one step at a time, but those steps have a way of adding up until all of a sudden you are much farther along than you even realized.  Take the example of saving up for something you want to purchase.  It may not seem like a lot at first to put one dollar in an envelope, but before you know it, if you keep taking a step at a time, suddenly it is time to go shopping!

I would encourage you in these last few days of the year to allow yourself to dream a little.  What are some goals you would like to achieve this next year?  After you figure out where you want to go, just take the first step.  Congratulations!  You are one step closer to your goal.  Remember, bridges aren’t built in a day, but by continuing to put down one “rock” at a time you can achieve amazing things this year.

I can’t wait to hear about some of your goals and how you plan to reach them this year!

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this.”  Psalm 37:4-5

The day after Thanksgiving.  We are stuffed full of turkey with all the trimmings and pie.  I hope we are filled to the brim with thankfulness as well.  I know I can get so caught up in all the preparations and cooking that I leave little time to actually think about the blessings I am supposed to be celebrating on this holiday.

But today, when all we have to do is warm up some leftovers, I am contemplating what it means to be truly grateful.  This has been a very difficult Fall for a lot of us, so the thought of trying to be thankful can be somewhat hard.  What does it mean when the Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances?  (I Thessalonians 5:18)  When so many of us have lost so much recently, how can we do this?

There’s a little hint in verse 17, it simply says pray continually.  Pour out your heart to God, all the hurts, anger, sadness and disappointments.  As you are honest with God, (and yourself) you make space in your soul by giving your heavy burdens to God.  When you do this, you just might be surprised to find room in your heart for thankfulness.  As you see your loving Heavenly Father gently carrying you, thank Him for it!

Even on the very hardest days, we can usually find at least one thing to be grateful for.  For me sometimes it is something as small as noticing the beautiful Fall colors and saying a simple, “thank you.”  When we give thanks to God, He will give us victory in our lives.  “But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I Corinthians 15:57

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.”  I Chronicles 16:8

Check out my post, ‘Best Day Ever’ for more on this topic.