Idol breaking.

We finished up the sermon series by Mark Driscoll preached out of the book of Song of Songs. I can't even begin to explain how awesome this series is and how Josh and I now have a completely different outlook on our marriage relationship. The very last sermon was titled "I was a wall" and it dealt with a few issues of parenting. Again, another amazing sermon.

One particular portion of the sermon really stuck out to me. Pastor Mark posed a question, "think of the times when you are getting most frustrated by your kids. What is really the cause of your frustration?". In this part of the sermon he had been talking about idols. He was pointing out how many "idols" we, as parents, have and by having kids we are setting ourselves up for our idols to be smashed and broken all day long.

It made me realize how often I get frustrated with the kids because they are ruining or interrupting something that I am doing for myself.

One of the biggest idols that my kids demolish all day long is my clean house! I'm not sure why I haven't been able to let go of this idol yet...because you would think having four kids would do that to me...but lets just say I do 'cry over spilled milk'. I mean, obviously..we have spills and accidental messes here all the time and the kids don't get in trouble for this, but inside it drives ME crazy. I am always cleaning...and looking behind to find a trail of mess and this makes me frustrated with my kids.

I do think that an organized home is best and I love to provide an "en gedi" for my husband when he returns from a hard day at work (one that he doesn't require...but does appreciate!), but there IS a balance there. I cringe when my kids walk inside and leave their shoes on, or when they are eating lunch and food is dropping on the floor.

Until now, I've just tried to hide the fact that these things make me crazy. Now that the fact that my clean house is actually an "idol" has been pointed out to me, I am trying really hard to 'lay it down'.

These last few days of summer weather have really been a test to this...as the kids have been enjoying mud puddles and all kinds of fun summer things! Of course, they have always enjoyed these things, but yesterday I actually let them walk in the house to their bedrooms with muddy feet to change their clothes!!

And trust me, I've always loved the look of dirty kids at the end of a summery day! Dirty kids equal tired kids!

What are some of your idols that cause you to be frustrated with your kids?