Staged

Does your life show what is really going on or is it staged?  Cropped so people only see the 'good stuff'?  Do your friends and family know the real you?  Or do you hide what is really going on in your mind and heart?
I tend to put pictures on my blog that look good.  Who wants to see all the real life stuff?  Same way with my heart and mind.  Why would my friends and family want to know what is really going on?  Who wants to see the hurt, disappointment, discouragement, etc. that I deal with?  I mean, seriously, I'm probably the only one who ever has these feelings right?

I can show you this because it looks good.  Here is where I start almost all my weekdays.
Coffee, Bible, study book, pen, sometimes a warm blanket.

It even looks good from from back a little.

And even a little bigger picture still looks pretty good.

But an even bigger picture shows the REAL disaster my house was in a couple weeks ago on Monday morning.  And today it really isn't much better.

I zoomed in with my camera and got only the 'pretty' stuff in the first 3 pics but that did not change the fact that just inches away there were piles of clutter...

Piles on the cupboard, piles on the keyboard, sweeper not put away...

Piles all over the dining room.  Laundry not folded. (gasp.  I'm probably the only one who leaves laundry unfolded all weekend!)  Kids artwork and books laying around, paint cans on the dining room table.  Those paint cans tell the story of why this place has been such a wreck lately.  With me and Hubby working hard on weekends to finish up an upstairs bedroom/stairway project the regular household stuff doesn't get done.  I know, I should have trained my girls to do it all.  Sigh. 

But even without the excuse I have at the moment, of a huge project in the works, I sadly have to admit that I don't always have things ship-shape.  I get tired.  I don't feel like doing it.  I want someone else to take over, be responsible.

So is there a point to all this?  It may seem rather random, but I'm trying to get my thoughts out here!!  The point is I'm not perfect.  I can crop and edit to make it LOOK like things are perfect but just inches away are piles of unsightly 'stuff'.

And my spiritual life can be the same way.  I can say all the right things, quote scripture, sing the songs, wear a smile, and on and on and on, but just inches away, just under all the 'pretty' on the surface can be an ugly pile of nastyness.  Hateful thoughts, vengefulness, anger, pain, and on and on and on.

BUT!!!  There is hope!!  God created a way to 'crop' all that ugliness FOREVER!!!  He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take all that nastiness away!!  By accepting Him into my heart He washed all of that junk away!!  Hallelujah!!  Praise His Name!  And if the devil trys to edge any of that junk back in all I have to do is call out to my LORD and SAVIOR, and He is there to carry me through!

In the words of Little Sister:  "When satan bothers me, I tell him to 'go away!' And I ask Jesus to keep him away."

Our homes need constant upkeep.  There is always something to be done.  I'm not perfect and my housekeeping will probably never be prefect either.

But God IS perfect and through Him and His Son Jesus Christ, I can have a perfect heart, a place where the Holy Spirit dwells. 

You can too.  Seek the Lord.  If you don't know Him, seek Him NOW!

"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes"

(Ps. 18:24,The Message)