Fun ---> Mess

Tomorrow life begins to lean back toward "normal chaos". We have had a fantastic week and a half. Thankfully we've had no real sickness this year. So we have partied (of the family friendly variety), and played. When we play hard, we generally have BIG messes. Colossal type messes! =) And after a day or four, I begin to go a little crazy, and we have a cleaning sprint. But two things have stood out to me this week. One, Mommy reminded me of something that her dad had said when she was a kid: "A house should be clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be lived in." I know that balance varies from person to person, and house to house-- for us, it means not vacuuming every day... or every week... ;) And toys on the floor most days. The second, and bigger thing is that as my Crew are getting older, I'm realizing even more how brief their childhood is-- and I want to savor the moments I have with them in my home. =)

"O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
Psalms 39:4-5
 
O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Psalms 144:3-4
 
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
Psalms 103:13-16
 
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8