The last few weeks have been hard for me - not because anything bad has happened, but because the Romans Bible Study I've been doing online, as well as a study on the Fruit of the Spirit I've just completed with my IRL group have exposed so much "gunk" (for lack of a better word) in my life ... bad spiritual thinking, bad spiritual habits, bad moods, bad excuses for bad behaviour - the Holy Spirit peeled away a big spiritual plaster from me, and exposed what was really happening underneath, and some of it was not-so-pretty.
I found things like sulking about not getting my own way, gossiping, laziness, and a lack of gratitude lurking beneath the surface of my life, and I wasn't happy they were there, or even sure when they'd crept in and become "normal" parts of my life!!
Now, if you've ever had a physical wound go septic, you'll know that getting it cleaned up is a messy, painful experience, but it needs to be done for healing to happen. This has been my experience over the past few weeks - messy, smelly, dirty stuff, but oh! the relief of having it out in the open and cleaned up!!!
It's been hard, but GOOD! And I'm thankful all over again to have a God Who cares enough to show me where I'm out of line, and how to get back to where I need to be with Him.
In line with this spiritual process I've been working through, I've also had the desire to clean up my life physically - which leads me to our next challenge: a 16 day declutter challenge.
I found this challenge at www.theholymess.com, and if you head there you can download the printable version for free.
I'll be starting tomorrow, Monday, 8 August, and I'm eager to see how much "lighter" my life can get - both spiritually and physically - in just 15 minutes per day!
I'll be posting photos and insights here every day during the challenge - I hope you'll join me on the journey.
See you soon!