Transitions Take Time and Make Messes

This summer our middle son and a friend resided with us while they took a break from studies to work so they could resume their studies (without incurring more debt). So, they loaded up two cars and a van and moved back into the dorms. In the spirit of college life, this was done at the last possible moment choreographed with the washing machine and dryer twirling nonstop for all day and most of the night. The busy beehive of activity reminded me that transitions require TIME and make MESSES. In order to fill a box, a shelf needs to be emptied. In order to stuff a car, other objects need to be strewn across the floor to see how to finish the jigsaw puzzle. And then there is the small refrigerator with leftover food that was ignored for a parent to discover. I have not ventured into the unknown cavern of the bedroom closet yet. Of course, in all humility, I tried to clear off my desks (kitchen and school) this week. I gave up and used the box method. The desks are now cleared but the items are stuffed in boxes to help me reorganize the desks to my purposes. So, this is not a problem with just college students! Any transition needs time to work through and we need to allow ourselves the extra time to work through those transitions. I am very aware of this in the kitchen as our transition to healthier eating (and my MP limitations) requires even more food to be made from scratch. Since God has only given each of us the same amount of time and brings these transitions into our lives, I need to go to Him for wisdom in how to budget the time for His purposes. Also, my attitude is challenged to relax about the messes. This is part of the process. Transitions are messy. I can fuss but messes also take time to clean up and this goes back to my comment on time. Transitions can be messy and require time in another way: They have a tendency to reveal my heart and my sin that God wants to deal with in His way. I need to budget time to confess my sin and take every thought captive to Christ as He sanctifies me so, in my transition, I am transformed to His likeness. Lord, please help me use time to deal with the messes of my heart while I take time for transitional messes.