Reddin' Up For Redemption

Some of us may be bogged down and dragging at the mid-point of Lent. Twenty days down - twenty days to go. I did give up a few things that I am anxiously awaiting my reunion with, but this year I added a little twist to Lent - I've implemented a forty day organization challenge.

I have been trying to get organized for years. I have never really been an organized person and I truly admire those who are. Some days I wish I had OCD so I could have a cleaner home,  but it seems like I was blessed with ICD (ignoring clutter disorder) instead.

While getting our "physical" house organized is probably not what God  envisioned for our spiritual journey to Easter, it created a doable time frame for me to tackle some daily demons - cupboards that will not close, a junk drawer that actually eats things, and damaged items that have a home -  just because. Yes, that mug has a chip and I could cut myself if I drink out of it, but turn it to the other side and it looks as good as any other 15-year-old mug in a thrift store.

I had the idea of organizing one drawer/cupboard/closet a day for forty days. Could this tame the beast within my home? Now realistically I cannot tackle one area every day so I double up on some days to even things out. So far I have 21 areas that have been transformed. My kitchen had the most spaces that needed attention and it makes me happy to open the junk drawer and see that it is no longer, hungry. It is a site to behold and the secret was a simple phrase - everything has a place.

A few weeks before Lent started, I was watching online videos from Organizational Goddesses who do this sort of thing for a living. 'You too can be like me,' they say. 'Get organized in three easy steps. Now subscribe to my site for a video a day and watch your life transform.' First of all, I don't have that sort of time. I need a fix now! What works for Neatnick Nelly isn't going to work for Klutter Kristen, but I did take away the 'everything has a place' motto and tucked it in my mind of wonders.

I visited a friend recently and she showed off with pride, a recently transformed junk drawer. Over a glass of wine we oooed and awed at this marvel of organization. I asked, "How did you do this?" as my eyes studied the perfection of a variety of items sharing one drawer. She said, "I couldn't take it anymore and now everything has a place."

There it was again - my phrase. And now I knew what needed to happen. Every item in my house needed its own space. I was mentally at a place where I could 'get er done' and I would have a little under two months to do it.

I thought I would be overwhelmed by the amount of work there was to do, but once I got started I wanted to do more. I have a bunch of stuff that will be donated and a bunch of stuff has already been thrown away, but getting organized is like an addiction. The more you do - the more you want and I want it all!

I have bought caddies, little dividers and storage bins to help give items their place and it's amazing the things that are out there for this very purpose. I had been in denial for a long time thinking I couldn't do this myself - and that is true. But I had to be the catalyst to show my family what could be done and how we can make this our new way of life.

My biggest problem though, is finding time. Now with my smallest areas organized I have bigger areas looming. I guess I will have to take what is left and do it in segments to make it less daunting.

I have to keep this in perspective. So maybe this will spill over the 40 days of Lent - the important thing is I've made a start and if the worst thing that happens is only one room gets an overhaul, at least it is the kitchen. I could technically set up a cot in there and make that my organized oasis - one where I can easily find a snack when, as Winnie the Pooh would say, there's a rumbly in my tumbly.

              My new and improved junk drawer