Skeletons in the Closet

It's time to show the world the inside of these newly painted and lovely closets we've been chatting about.  Here's a warning - they are were a total mess.  When you live in a small house, storage is at a premium and being organized is key.  Currently, we are not abiding by the small house/organization rule.  Before we moved, we took the time to do some major purging and organizing so we wouldn't get ourselves into this situation but, here we are.  The great pre-move purge was amazing and we really didn't have a ton of unused junk laying around anymore, but what we did have was a lot of post-move stuff we didn't know what to do with once we were settled.  Not only had the guest room become a dumping ground for all things without a place, so had our closets.  One of the things I mentioned yesterday was my love for a neat closet - which really is true but is currently not a reality.  So, here they are in all of their disaster glory.  Note to neat freaks - you might cringe.  Note to fellow non-neat freaks - you will feel comforted knowing you are not the only ones.

This side is packed- tools, old computer, pool noodles - you know, we like to keep similar items together.

All of our picture frames and artwork have been living in this closet since we moved in.

These boxes are filled with so many random items and you can just take my word for it.

Major over-stuffed shelf going on.

Now you get a closer look.  Not even sure how this stuff is staying up there.

Ok, now you can take a huge sigh of relief because they have been all cleared out-

I've been working on re-organizing and tidying up the closets this week and I can't wait to share with you what they look like now...you'll just have to wait a bit for that though.

Oooh, this might be my favorite part of the post - The Tower of Terror.  I didn't realize how bad this was until I looked at the picture.  This is the very back of our house in our laundry area where we have a bit of extra storage space.  As you can see, I just keep piling stuff on top whenever I have know idea where to put something - it's really a great technique.  You can also see our attempt to get organized by the labeled bins that are crammed inside the shelf.  I'm showing you this, so you can not only laugh but I am also taking on the challenge of organizing and cleaning up this space.  I have moved some of this stuff to closets and moved some closet stuff to here to make each space more efficient.  Anyway, you might have to wait a little longer to see this end result because it's still a work in progress.

This is a great picture of our awesome old floor in the back - compliments the old fake paneling pretty well I think.

These over-stuffed and over-stacked spaces makes me think about my own life.  Wow, can life get over-stuffed or what?  Sometimes I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above the water with all of the activities, events, home projects, walking babies, blog posts, or whatever that goes on everyday.  I think God would have us to lead a full life - a life full of Joy for our savior - a Christ focused life.  But I don't think He would have us lead a chaotic life, over-stuffed and leaving us tired and overwhelmed.  We need to step back and take a look at the picture of our own lives.  Are we full of joy or full of chaos?  God's word says "‘For in him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28).  I want my life to be lead by Him, my Savior, and when I'm being lead by Him chaos does not exist - only Focus.  This verse always makes me stop and take a deep breath in God - such a joyful and fulfilling breath.  I pray each breath we take will be like this - every movement, everyday - a chaotic-free, Christ-focused, joy-filled life.  That is the way God has intended it.