{"id":1998,"date":"2010-02-26T23:25:28","date_gmt":"2010-02-27T04:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=1998"},"modified":"2010-02-26T23:25:28","modified_gmt":"2010-02-27T04:25:28","slug":"i-want-to-be-an-ant-when-i-grow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theyoungpages.com\/jodis_blog\/?p=1998","title":{"rendered":"I Want To Be an Ant When I Grow Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I am not domestically inclined. \u00a0There, I said it.<\/p>\n

I don’t know whether it’s nature or nurture or both, but I am a messy girl, and after years of trying to change (I started receiving FLYlady<\/a>‘s emails when I was pregnant with Romilly in 2005!) I still struggle to maintain even the most basic level of order in my home. \u00a0Sometimes I catch glimpses that there are advantages to being the way I am, that those who have the “neat freak” gene do not always count it a blessing. \u00a0But mostly, I just wish I were doing a better job of serving my family in this area.<\/p>\n

I was no better at keeping my home tidy before I had children, though well-meaning friends and family are always quick to offer my four little ones up as an excuse for the state of my house, but now there is an increasing sense of urgency to the matter. \u00a0How can I keep my girls from ending up like me? \u00a0When I see the horror in Pippa’s face when I ask her to tidy up the playroom, or hear the desperation in Romilly’s voice when putting all<\/em> the doll clothes away is “Just too much, Mommy!”, I see and hear myself! \u00a0How can I train them to pick up after themselves, when I don’t consistently do it myself? \u00a0How can I teach them what I just haven’t learned yet? \u00a0The situation is getting pretty dire as more and more little girls graduate to mess-making age around here.<\/p>\n

This \u00a0passage has been staring me down for quite some time now.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 6:6-11<\/strong><\/p>\n

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

When I have read it,\u00a0 it has always said something like this to me:<\/p>\n

Hey Jodi, look at all these other women who keep their homes immaculate and their laundry folded and put away all the time! \u00a0They do it every day, not just when they’re getting ready for a birthday party. \u00a0When they pull out their vacuum cleaners, their children do not<\/em> ask them, “Mommy, is somebody coming over?” They scrub and bake and even garden (which people think you do, but it’s actually your husband who does all the work), all while you sleep in, or maybe play on the Internet for a few minutes<\/span> hours on end. \u00a0Those women are so. much. better than you!<\/strong><\/p>\n

But of course, whatever voice that was that I was hearing, it was not<\/em> the voice of my gentle, loving Lord. \u00a0What I had never noticed about these verse before \u00a0few weeks ago, was this part:<\/p>\n

Go to the ant… consider her ways, and be wise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wasn’t reading what these verses actually<\/em> said. \u00a0The answer has been right there all along: Go find “those women” and see how they do it. \u00a0Learn from them! \u00a0I don’t have to stay a sluggard, I can be an ant, too!<\/p>\n

So, this is where you come in, ant friends. \u00a0You know who you are, you who basically have things under control. \u00a0If your laundry spends most of its time clean and folded in its proper place, and you know, for instance, that you are supposed to clean under<\/em> your microwave at least every once in a while, I want to know what makes you tick! \u00a0(Advice is also more than welcome from recovering sluggards: you are an inspiration!)<\/p>\n