Today as I clean up the house for mom’s group tomorrow, I was wiping away evidence that three messy kids and 2 dogs live here. How you ask? I was using my favorite cleaning product ever, a magic eraser. Dirty fingerprints, stains where the dog food splatters on the wall, smudges from shoes, you name it, the magic eraser wipes away almost all traces of chaos in my home. I’m a clean freak, there’s no doubt about it. I am sure my cleaning could be considered obsessive. Today as I look around my home I see evidence that I’ve let go of control of the cleanliness of my home. Our vacuum is broken, again. I have been so focused on exercise, homework and church work that I’ve barely taken time to make sure the sink is empty each day or that much else is done. For me this is an added stress, I want my home to be clean, but I also want to exercise, need to get my homework done and have obligations to fulfill at church. I’ve decided that for me cleaning isn’t a high priority anymore, even though I’d like it to be. Just like I can’t get my house in tip top shape every time I want to spend time with friends, I can’t fix myself magically either.
You can’t magically erase everything in your life, your personality, or past to make yourself perfect. There are marks we can’t get rid of, from stress, from exposure to pain, from time. Others can see how we prioritize things in life by how we act, look, and talk. Are there things in your life that you’d like to magically erase? Knowing that these are all parts of you and your story, what can you do to learn to accept that your life is as God designed it to be? That you are wonderfully and fearfully made? Â How can you encourage others to love themselves, even though there are parts of their life they wish would disappear?
As I focus on getting physically fit I become more and more aware of the parts of my body that I want to change, the areas I want to lose the most weight, to get the most toned. Â I can’t magically wish it away. Â I have to work hard every day to commit to lifestyle changes that bring about those changes.
What can you do this month to commit to erasing parts of your life you don’t like, like your thighs, past hurts, or words you wish you’d stop using? Are there things in your life that you can erase by working to get healthy? By talking to a counselor, friend or pastor? Can you erase bad habits from your life? Â If you think you can’t, I challenge you to dare to do the impossible. Others haven’t given up hope on you, so don’t give up on yourself!
