Major Confession! One of My Biggest Secrets Exposed!

Are you ready for this?? I don't fold my fitted sheets!!! In fact, I don't even care! :) Man, that felt good!

It took me years to admit this! I felt so shamed by this strange, stubborn, deformed, inanimate object. Shouldn't all wives be able to tame this beast? And don't all stay-at-home-moms have the secret to the perfect fold?

I am very type A and like everything in just the right place, but when it comes to the fitted sheets...seriously ladies?!
What's all the fuss about?? Just because Martha Stewart says it can be beautifully done, and she can teach you how in 15 simple steps doesn't mean it is worth a half hour of your time and a handful of your brain cells!!!

Here's my process, which I have developed after more than a decade of homemaking experience.

STEP 1:
 I pick up the sheet with both hands, ensuring I have a corner in each hand. (Who the heck cares which two corners!?)

STEP 2:
With a corner in each hand, I spread my arms to reach my full 5'3" wing span.

STEP 3:
From this pitiful extension that doesn't even come close to pulling taut our king sized sheet, I put the corners together. (I am now satisfied that I tried.)

STEP 4:
Now, this is where it gets tricky...ensuring the two corners are perfectly aligned...I start balling it up and flipping it over until I can squish it into something sort of resembling a square, or maybe more like a very large, deflated beach ball.

STEP 5:
Finally, I fold the flat sheet and one pillow case, stack them on top, and then shove all three inside the other pillowcase and voila!  It looks neat and seamless stacked on the closet shelf!  

Now, please...before you start sending me YouTube videos on sheet folding, please remember...I don't care!!! :)

"If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18 (And might I be so bold as to say, and everything!)

 This includes yourself...and your sheets! Next time you find yourself crazy overwhelmed or beyond burnout, stop and check your workload. Are you spending precious time and energy on some things that you could just let go? John Maxwell calls it "Identifying your limiting factors." Are there things that rob you of your joy and energy that could be left undone (or better yet, passed along to your kids as their new "grown up" responsibility)?

I encourage you friends, take a true evaluation of the things that are causing you to get worked up and flustered and ask yourself, "Do I even have to do this?" I challenge you this week - Get creative, get real, and give yourself some grace!

Now, I know Tim (my husband) is laughing at this right now, since we had a 4 hour conversation about this last night. I take that back...a conversation implies two or more persons more or less equally contributing to a healthy discussion. This was more like him listening to me go on for 4 hours about how overwhelmed I am by all the things I have to do, all the things I should do, all the things I need to do, and never seeming to be able to get to my ever growing list of things I want to do...can I get a witness???

Sister, you are not alone! I always say my mess is my message, so I don't hide my own issues. If I did, I'd have very little to share!!! Let's commit to setting aside some time this week with the Lord. Be still in His presence, and let Him speak to our hearts about how He would have us order our days. He truly does care about every detail. And yes, I know finding that time is one more thing to add to your list, but how about this? GET UP BEFORE THE KIDS!!! Trust me, I know! For me this is typically between 5 and 5:30 a.m. But I promise you, there is something special about that quiet hour with just your coffee and your Bible, before the rest of the world is up and going. The Lord will meet you there. It has become my very favorite part of the day.

"Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life."

Psalm 25:1

"Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright." Proverbs 4:26

"In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart]."

Psalm 5:3

"And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he (Jesus) departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed."

Mark 1:35