Many, many years ago, when I was growing up, an annual event at our house was SPRING CLEANING. Even the thought of it causes me to shudder. Not only were our lives turned upside down during our week of "vacation" during spring break, but our house was too!!! Seriously. There truthfully was not an inch of our home that did not get cleaned. Dishes that had not been used once during that entire year, were taken out of cupboards, washed and bleached and returned to their spots. Closets were completely emptied and wiped down and purged from whatever items weren't needed. Curtains were removed from every window and washed while each window was cleaned inside and out. Walls, floors, doors, windows, furniture. . . . it was all cleaned. Then, everything was returned to it's original state - only cleaner. I will be honest. I never quite understood that whole concept, and I certainly didn't enjoy it during my week of holidays from school. I will also tell you that spring cleaning does not occur in my house!!!
But usually 2 or 3 times a month, I walk into my office and feel stifled. You see, my office becomes a dumping ground for things that "I will do later". My desk gets piled higher and higher with papers, books, clothes etc. And finally, one day, it all gets to be too much. The anxiety that this clutter brings is palpable at times, and so today was one of those days when I "took charge" of the disaster that I called my office.
My office also doubles as our prayer room. But lately, it hasn't been a prayer room. It's been a place where I work, where things pile up, and where chaos has reigned!
This morning I decided to take back this space. Granted, I know things will pile up, but for today, my office is calm. It's a place where the worship music plays continuously day and night, and a space where (NOW!) I can sit and look outside and be still. Be quiet as I think, pray and just listen.
As I sat at my desk and thought about this process of cleaning up and spring cleaning and de-cluttering and living minimally, I started to think about my spiritual walk and how it could stand to use some SERIOUS spring cleaning! My world has been filled with schedules, due dates, appointments, meetings, agendas and somewhere in the chaos I have lost the moments of stillness that I have so desperately needed.
As I've thought about how to spring clean my spiritual life, I realized it all came down to figuring out what matters. It's not about the doing, it's about the being. It's about spending that time with God. It's about the relationship that I have with Him, not what I DO "for Him". Over the last little while, I think I've lost sight of that. I've lost sight of my need for a relationship with God. A deep rooted relationship, not one that "looks" right, but one that is right. One that is continually seeking a deeper truer relationship with Him. One that focuses on what God has for me, rather than on what I have for me.
And while this may not be the same for you, the place where I generally spent those quiet moments with God had become cluttered and busy, and in turn, my relationship with God had moved to the bottom of those big piles that filled the desk and chairs in my office. So today, while the calendar might not say it is spring, my office is cleared and my heart space is cleared and ready for renewing a relationship that needs some serious work!
There are so many areas of my spiritual walk with God that need some spring cleaning - certainly rearranging at least. And it feels like spring is just the time for that. . .
