From Christmas Chaos to a New Beginning!

New Year's Eve may be a party, but then there's New Year's Day...

New Year's Day is two things in my home...football for the boys and clean-up for the girls (something's wrong with this picture, I know).

I both dread and look forward to this day.  The cookies are stale, the greenery is dry, the presents are unwrapped, the recycle bin is overflowing, the fridge is stuffed with UFOs (unidentified food objects), the floor is sticky, and the whole house seems to cry out for a good cleaning and some elbow room!  You'd think I'd be more than ready to scoop the whole mess up and pack it away.

But then there is the pretty tree, still sparkling with its bright lights and cheery reds.

Every year, without fail, I feel a little wistful as I pull that first ornament off the tree.  But it must be done, so off comes the next one and the next one, until the poor little tree is left stripped and bare in its stand, waiting to be rolled out the door to the curb and then into the mulcher!

But once the cruel job is finally done, I turn on my house with great fervor.  I attack the fridge.  I smash boxes and haul out the recycling.  I scrub the floors and move the furniture back into place.  And then I fill the storage room with all the bins that hold Christmas and close the door.

Suddenly, it's all okay.  The order after chaos, the neatness after the mess, the breathing space after the close quarters brings a sense of peace and serenity to my soul.  It's a new year, a new season.  Old things have passed away and all things are new!  It's as if my heart and my home are cleared, open and expectant...ready for the adventures that lie ahead!

When I opened my Bible this morning and read Genesis 1, I was impacted by the very first words on the page:  "In the beginning, God...."

It's as if I am holding my breath as I stand at the very beginning of 2013, peering ahead in anticipation of a new year, brimming with potential....waiting for the creative force of God to speak a word of LIFE into my yet unspoken days!

As I perform that simple act of putting my house in order, it is a reminder to get ready for God...waiting with expectation as He goes to work creating a beautiful life for me!  As God spoke His Word and brought order out of chaos to His world, so must I bring order to mine...and you to yours!

So Happy New Year!  Enjoy taking down Christmas and making way for a new season!

Christmas Chaos!

Restored Order!