orgjunkie.com

Hello. My name is Dawn and I’m a straighten-it-out-aholic.  

Wherever I go—a doctor’s waiting room, a church pew or a restaurant—I fight the urge to straighten out the piles of magazines, tithing envelopes and menus like it’s a disease. It’s not OCD because I can successfully leave those skewed piles alone, but I don’t like it.  

Ask my daughter who noticed my madness in her preteen years and challenged me while in the pediatrician’s office, whose end tables had lost the fight with toddlers all day long. “Don’t touch them, Mom,” she chided. “You can do it. Leave (those magazines) alone.” I ignored them, but my heart raced until the nurse called us into the examining room. 

My 88-year-old mother started kitchen renovations in early December. Dinnerware, pots and pans, cereal and cracker boxes laid strewn across her dining room table and hidden in every bare spot in between. She refused my offers to box the unnecessary items during the construction despite her numerous complaints about the mess.  

My fingers twitched while I rustled through the piles searching for sugar and a clean spoon for my coffee. “If only I could make order out of this mess,” I thought.  I wasn’t seeking her approval, but rather wanted to bring order to a disorderly situation—to ease her frustration and give her peace.  

Last week, the opportunity finally arose. While she recuperated from an eye procedure and with her permission, I tucked away the stacks of bowls, the piles of Tupperware and all those cereal boxes inside her shiny new cabinets, praying I’d remembered exactly where she kept them before.  

During my morning coffee the next day, Mom called. I held my breath thinking, “Here it comes! I put something in the wrong place.” But, instead she said, “You did a good job. You put order to my chaos. Thank you.” 

Receiving my mother’s approval made me feel nine-years-old all over again—in a good way. I wasn’t consciously seeking her approval; all I wanted was to do exactly what she thanked me for—to put order to her chaos so she could enjoy life.  

When I think about it, that may be where my urge comes from—wanting to straighten things out—so I (and those I love) can enjoy life.  

Let’s face it. Life gets messy. Distractions pile up around us and life spins out of control. There’s no avoiding these moments, but Proverbs 3:5-6 promises that if you: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” 

When we or our family members face troubles (and Jesus promised that we will face problems) it’s hard to ignore the urge to straighten things out; to make order out of chaos. But, there are situations where a simple straightening of the messy piles won’t solve the problem. We can’t always straighten things out, nor are we supposed to. So how do we cure this urge to make everything orderly? In these situations, Jesus says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33 NIV). Lean into Jesus and ask for Him to straighten your paths, to show you His way out. Resist the urge to straighten things out alone. Your heavenly Father has offered to come alongside you and show you the way. 

Maybe you’re facing your own chaos today. Here on the Christian Children’s Authors blog, we believe in this path-straightening Jesus. We know from our own experiences how He can make order out of our personal chaos. We’d like to support you through prayer. How may we pray for you?