Chapel A Day- Day 19 (Don't Get Your Drawers in an Uproar!)

"Don't get your drawers in an uproar!" 

Mama Hodie circa 1964

I think that's the closest I ever got to hearing my grandmother use salty language. Those seven little words were usually uttered when I was "having a spell" (another one of her favorite sayings) when something wasn't going my way. Mama Hodie had a way of keeping it real, even way back then.

I thought about her during today's chapel visit. The chapel is just a tiny room in Santa Rosa Medical Center in Milton, FL. It's the kind of room where Mama Hodie would be comfortable.. a small chapel in a small hospital, in a small town where people speak plainly and keep it real.

I also thought about Mama Hodie earlier this morning, when I was going through my drawers... ummmm., that's my DRESSER drawers, thank you. They were in a bit of an uproar. About once a week, I go through these drawers---straightening, folding and de-cluttering. Each time, I vow that THIS week.. .the drawers will stay in order!  But, bit by bit, I find myself shoving a rumpled and wrinkled t-shirt into this drawer; stuffing unfolded socks into that drawer; and tossing pajama tops in and out of the other drawer. And, by the end of the week..

...my drawers are in an uproar.

As I sat in the chapel, thinking of Mama Hodie's comment, it occurred to me that it's just that simple for life to get in an uproar. Bit by bit. A little shove here, a little stuff there, a little toss in the other place.. and before we know it...

...life is in an uproar.

The good news is that it doesn't have to stay that way. We can yank the drawers of our life open and begin straightening, folding and de-cluttering. 

For me, that means straightening my life by getting my priorities in line with HIS priorities. First things first. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." Matthew 6:33. As I recently read in the devotional book "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young:

 "When MY Presence is your focal point, the pieces of your life will fall into place."

Then, the folding process is simply my means of getting organized. I do it with prayer, study, list making and calendar-accountability. For me, this formula for order leads to more peace in life.. and we can all use more of that, right?

Pray... study... write it down.. keep commitments

The de-cluttering part is a little tougher. Like those comfortable...but filled with holes... socks in my sock drawer, all of us have "stuff" in life that we have trouble releasing. But, we can try.This Lenten season I am trying to let go of the little things that keep me busy but unproductive; with matters that consume my energy without feeding my spirit; and with.situations over which I have no control. Like those socks, they may be familiar and feel weirdly comfortable.. but they don't belong in the drawer. In Luke 10:38-42, we are reminded that 

"few things are needed." 

Like the ones in my dresser, the drawers in my life won't stay clean forever. They will become messy, jumbled and cluttered again.  I'll have to stop what I'm doing and straighten them. But, after today's chapel time, one of my new goals during this Lenten season is to avoid getting my drawers in an uproar!

Mama Hodie would be proud.

Drexel and Mama Hodie 1981