A House of Order

I woke up in a bad mood Tuesday morning. It was one of those days where my to-do list was too-long. I felt overwhelmed. And stressed. And tired. I wanted to go back to bed, but my schedule didn't include that option. I slowly started checking things off my proverbial list, while mentally adding more items by the minute - more errands to run, more calls to make, more items to buy, more projects to sew, more rooms to clean, more family members to nurture.

In the midst of my busyness, I opened the master bathroom closet to grab something and a box of nursing pads caught my eye. Why in the world did I still have nursing pads in there. My baby is three and was weaned by his first birthday. Further investigation revealed other goodies - the dreaded postpartum-strength maxi pads, more than a dozen expired medications (including prenatal vitamins), two bags of fun things from Bath & Body Works, a pile of unfolded towels, my missing pink under shirt, and picture frames my kids painted at a family reunion - two years ago. Of course there were shelves of regularly used items - extra soap, razors, cleaning supplies and (unexpired) medicine. But how did this other stuff get shoved aside for so along?

Without thinking, I ran a bath for Mason, grabbed a big garbage bag and started cleaning. The more I tossed, the more invigorated I felt. As I sorted through items and organized the things to keep I realized that I have shoved aside too much for too long. This bathroom closet, which I open on a daily basis, was full of unnecessary items that I didn't even notice anymore. I had somehow become blinded by the clutter - in this closet; in other closets; in my life. An hour (and three garbage bags) later, my mood was a bit better. Mason was wrinkly, but loved his hour of swim practice.

As I finished, I realized that some of the things I thought needed to get done that day could wait. And I was OK with that. I made a goal to slowly and realistically start getting more organized - one day, one week, one closet at a time.

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

Doctrine & Covenants 88:119