What’s in a Name?
Long ago, Shakespeare asked this question suggesting that it doesn’t matter what a thing is called; what matters is what it IS. Of course I agree with the Bard on this point, but I do also believe that a name CAN have significance. So when Lindsey asked me to start thinking on a name for our organizing business, I began to think of what is meaningful to me in the subject of organization vs chaos.
Chaos is my frenemy. It is so much a part of who I am, and has felt like the entirety of my existence at times. I have ADHD, and that means that my brain is mostly a bundle and swirl and heap of chaos…but it’s meaningful chaos. It’s my chaos. It’s who I am. It’s familiar to me, and often even comforting. I never have a blank mind. I never think of nothing. It’s hard for me to comprehend that such a thing is possible.
The chaos that is my brain makes me creative, funny, outgoing, extremely talkative, naturally inclined to happiness. But it also makes me late, forgetful, frantic, and quick-tempered. It spills over into my home and my car, engulfing every aspect of my life…if I let it. In recent years it has lent itself to newfound struggles: anxiety, paralysing fears, deep shame. In fact, there have been seasons that those dark parts have far outweighed the brighter, outgoing, creative side of me.
Our home was always filled with chaos when all the kids still lived here. My husband and I have been blessed beyond measure with 5 beautiful children who were all gifted to us by God through adoption. Lee, our oldest, is 23 and we got him when he was 4. Ben is 22 and came to us at 6. Will and Darby came at the same time when they were 5 and 4, and they are now 18 and 17. Our unexpected caboose was our only infant; she exploded into our lives at 4 weeks old, and she is now 9. When Lindsey Grace so very abruptly joined our family (that story is a blog post for another day!), our other kids were 14, 13, 10, and 9. Lindsey lived with us then too (also a story for another post), so there were 8 people living in our 3-bedroom home. Well, 4-bedroom if you count the fact that Lindsey had built an ingenious pull-out bed for herself into the floor of our kids’ playroom! It’s an understatement to say it was crowded; chaos reigned, and we swam around in it trying to live life (did I mention that we homeschooled also??), and not drown.
Lindsey and I became an expert team at utilising every square inch of space in every nook and cranny of the house. And we regularly rearranged portions or entire rooms as the kids grew and needs changed. We eventually finished out our upstairs, adding a proper bedroom and bath for Lindsey, two sleeping lofts for our then older teen boys, and converted Trey’s tiny study into a bedroom for Lindsey Grace downstairs.
What we did, and redid, and then undid and did over many times with our home is what I have been slowly but surely learning to do in my mind and every aspect of my life: organize it. Chaos is natural to many, and at least a temporary part to almost all; but it’s not sustainable for long-term success. Not in your mind, not in your heart, and certainly not in your home.
The Bible deals with this principle very directly and clearly in 2 Corinthians 10. Paul is telling the Christians in the church at Corinth that the battles they are fighting aren’t really with the people or things around them, but rather the real fight is within us. Our warfare is spiritual. We are to fight against and conquer every thing that exalts itself against God, and the way we do that is to bring every thought captive.
What?! Every thought??? Paul, you clearly do not know how many thoughts I have!!!
He may not have, but God who inspired him did know. He DOES know. Because He made my brain. He gave me ADHD. He gave me 5 kids. He knows my life, and He assured me in 2 Peter 1 that “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him…” This means that all He has commanded me to do, He has equipped me to do. So, just as we brought every corner of our home into subjection and usefulness, I’m trying to learn to do the same in my mind. I encourage you to this task too. It’s hard, but worth the effort!!
Now, sometimes God’s “equipping” of us to do what is necessary means He puts someone in our lives who are good at things we struggle with, or don’t have enough time or energy for. Lindsey has been this to me in more ways than I could ever list. And it’s where we hope to come into your story - we would like so much to be used by God to come alongside you in whatever capacity you’re feeling overwhelmed in to help bring every corner of your home (and hopefully your life!) Into captivity to God. To bring order from chaos, to be the extra hands or body or brain that you need to untangle the web of clutter or the daunting event, or the move that you can’t wrap your mind around. We want to make your home, your life captivating and beautiful and useful - as God intended it to be. We can’t wait to serve you.