Chaos!!! Getting organized is one of those processes that seems to get worse before it gets better.  These pictures reveal what getting organized looks like for me right now! I went through every item in my office to throw out and give away anything that I did not use. Two loads of things went to thrift stores. It looked great for about a day.

Have you ever tried this technique on your calendar, throw out anything that is keeping you from growing toward the person you want to be?  How about organizing your spiritual life? What are the weekly life giving rhythms you practice to keep your focus on God? For me, getting organized physically and spiritually is another way to practice simplicity. When all the stuff I don’t use is out of the way. then I can focus on what is really important.

Getting organized is kind of like playing with dominos, each domino has an effect on the one before it. Once you change one thing, other things need to be changed, too. Once I had taken out items that were no longer useful, the next step to organizing my office was to find things to help me get organized. I chose a new hanging file system and some bookshelf space around my desk. In the midst of moving the furniture around, we found a real live church mouse who has been affectionately named “Delilah.” We watch her scurry across the carpet on occasion trying to find where her dwelling place used to be, and I know just how she feels. (Now that the cabinets for my hanging files have been constructed, maybe I should move my files in before Delilah finds her new home there.)

Getting organized is not something that we can do alone. The office walls needed to be cleaned up, the paneling had warped and there were nails sticking out. Electrical wires were hanging from the ceiling. Well, I am learning you do get what you ask for,  I want my office to be a place of welcome and indeed it is, right now there are many people coming in and out pasting dry wall, painting and rewiring. I am so very thankful for each of them.

What needs re-organizing in your life, your job, your church? Remember, you don’t have to go it alone! Even just one person’s input and energy can add amazing blessings toward fulfilling dreams! And you might just be that person!