My messy house...

I have recently decided that I need to figure out how I feel about mess. Part of me truly doesn't care. I look at the floors in my house, and they look like the photos below. The kids enjoy making messes. And they do help clean up when asked (for the most part). But another part of me feels sick about it. Maybe we have too much....stuff. Do they really need all of these things? What are they learning? Isaac has recently begun complaining about what he DOESN'T have. I know this is quite common. It's called "coveting" or "greed" and it comes with being human. But oh how we must fight against it!

He'll say things like, "But he has SO much more than I do!" or "She has more than me...it's not fair!" I cringe when he says things like this. I am so trying to teach them that the best things in life aren't things at all. And that it is better to give than to receive. And that there are others in this world who have NOTHING. And that we should be thankful for what we do have...not complain about what we don't have. These are tough lessons to teach a four-year-old...heck...they are hard for most adults to learn! I'm not sure what the answer is. My answer for everything is...PRAY! :) And it does work. It's not my job to change Isaac's heart. But I can lead him in Truth. And I can also provide an environment that is helpful in teaching these things.

I think we do have too much. We have an excessive amount of STUFF. I am in hyper-simplify mode right now. I started with my own sock drawer and closet, and will be slowly (because that's the pace that things go with three young children) going through our entire house and getting rid of stuff. My house doesn't have to be spotless. It's lived in, and I think that's kinda neat. But being cluttered with unnecessary things is not cool.