What To Do With Your Mess

A few weeks ago I took on something big. My family and I teamed up with our local church family and hit the streets to Rock the Block. Armed with bounce houses, food, music and God’s Word we invited our community to join us in area parks and hang out awhile.

For two weeks we Rocked the Block. God brought us more than 200 kids and parents to laugh with and love on. Months of preparation led up to those 2 weeks. We’d never attempted anything like this before. A lot of people asked a lot of questions, and I begged God to show us the answers.

I organized activity stations, age groups and security measures. We set up welcome tables, base camp and everything a kid needs to build a bird house. I hung signs, held training days and ordered supplies.

With my clipboard in hand, I scurried around each night to make sure everything went as planned and watched all the little children hop from one station to the next with bright smiles.

What I did not do was clean my car. With the little amount of free time available during those weeks I either ate, slept, or sat on the floor with my kids doing nothing.

God sent an angel we call Ms. Lesle who held down my fort. She bathed and fed my little ones each night then washed and folded laundry after they went to bed! If it weren’t for her my family would have worn dirty clothes and likely lived under a pile of laundry for 2 weeks.

But the car, that’s another story. It filled with trash, crumbs and anything else I didn’t feel like dragging in the house. Let’s be honest – this picture isn’t all that different than a normal week, just multiplied by 10.

The final night of Rock the Block I brought all 6 of my kids to the park. It went surprisingly well right up until the end of the night. As the children dismissed and went on their way, my 2-year old, Isaiah, drove his head into the ground and sliced it open. We grabbed the first aid kit and applied pressure. The bleeding stopped, but blood still stained the side of his face as we carried him to the car.

In the meantime, my 7-year old, Elijah, took the giant pixie-stick provided by our food team and dumped most of the sugar into his hand. The rest formed a mountain on the floor of the car.

That brought Luke to his boiling point, so instead of packing up and driving home he went to work cleaning out the car right there in the parking lot.

We stayed a good while longer than everyone else … and the car’s still not clean. But finally we loaded up and called it a day.

Then … the miracle.

The next Sunday at church one of the new families we met at Rock the Block joined us. Thrilled to see them we hugged and got to know each other more. And then she said it, “Katy, when we were leaving the other night I told my husband, ‘Look at their backseat. They’re just like us!'”

While we grumbled about the disaster in my car, God connected our family to another. God used what traps and accuses me of not being good enough to bring life and assurance to the heart of someone else.

God turned our mess into His message of love!

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NIV)

Too often we come up with reasons why we don’t cut it. Why we can’t handle God’s assignment or aren’t worthy of it. God chose ordinary, uneducated men to change the world. I love the end of that verse, “they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

The thing that holds you hostage may be what God uses to set someone free.

We’re at our best when we follow Jesus, mess and all. God isn’t looking for spotless people to carry out tidy plans. He just wants you. Will you go?

I love journeying with you, friend. Do you have a mess that hold you hostage? Leave a comment!