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To everything there is a season…” (Ecclesiastes 3)

In the Catholic Church, the beautiful liturgical season of Christmas is coming to a close as Luke and Nina make their final visits to the crèches they have enjoyed so much after each Mass.

Our family loved this Christmas season!

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Outside, the natural season of winter beckons us, whenever the sun is shining and the thermometer is not dipping to low, to make snow angels or go sledding.

Luke and Mommy enjoying a recent ride down the neighbor's hill...

For the next seven months, a season of anticipation envelopes Mike, the kids and I as we await the birth of our newest family member.

Nina -- not so excited about one sledding escapade -- sure must be glad that the new baby will need someone to stay inside to stay warm with next year.

And, in our home? As 2010 progresses, we hope to move from a season of disorder into one of organization!

No garage should look like this... No basement, nor hall, nor... either!

Yes, this year I am narrowing my focus down to one simple (yet huge for me!) thing which God models so well for us all: ORDER!

For, indeed, while order is something that can be seen all throughout the Bible — starting from the very first chapters of Genesis when God sets about creating the earth one wondrous step at a time — it is something that is less than apparent in our home. In seasons past, I confess that clutter and chaos have too often been allowed to creep beyond the corners and closets of our home, overtaking most living spaces. I ask forgiveness for my obvious part in this. Likewise, I petition that God might create in me a clean heart, so that I, in turn, may create a “clean” home that is both pleasing to him and to all who enter in!

Step by step, day by day, I pray the Holy Spirit will shape within me a constant desire to seek order in our home. I ask that God’s hands push me along as I move through creating and revamping routines and rhythms, mulling over thoughts and decisions, motivating my family into agreement and action and recreating our physical, and, therefore, mental spaces with a commitment to order in mind. In short, in prayer and (hopefully) practice, I offer this year up to God and ask Him to grace me with the will, time, and focused attention necessary to make our little domestic church an orderly one.

Join me as I embrace the challenge of creating Order in the Home.  In the comments box, I welcome suggestions, tales of your own triumphs and challenges, and, of course, prayers for success as I proceed.  And, should you want to quest along- grab the picture to the right, paste it on your own corresponding Order in the Home blog, then add a comment below and sign on with Mr. Linky. Maybe we can inspire one another!

May we all become better stewards of the life and luxuries God grants us.

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