Available for JoY

Okay! Okay - I relent! I am suppose to be getting ORGANIZED! (says who? Says ME)



Well - really - I was suppose to be discussing the topic of ‘organization’ way back in April per a theme suggested in our artists’ blog topic list at the CaaT group. Today I will finally discuss organization ~ which is quite different than BEING organized.

Mondays are always a weird event….
Yes… EVENT.
On Mondays, I face all that is piled up (and let me tell you, the piles are high). My fellow arteests are brave and have shown their creative spaces before and after major reorganizations. My studio is dubbed “the room of doom”. (says who? Says ME)
I cleaned it out completely at Christmas time… sorted everything into giant clear bins and moved them to another room for storage. The idea was that I would pace myself by allowing only a couple bins into the studio at a time.


BAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAA!
(loud maniacal laughing , like “Arnold” laughed in ‘Happy Days’)


Yeah, sure… that worked.


Hardly.


So ... many Monday’s later - still the day in the week that is the EVENT that sets up the whole week. As I glance at the calendar I see there are already too many things to accomplish in the days printed…and it is Wednesday. Forget Monday - I made cabbage rolls. I think I have a defective calendar. I could cut and paste a few extra days from a different week, but that somehow doesn’t help… I really should ORGANIZE my time this week.


BAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAA!


As much as I don’t think I am in any way “organized” I actually have a system of sorts… I have everything photographically emblazoned in my brain and what I forget isn’t important. Ha. Wait, that’s not it…

In any case, I do have a bazillion-hours of various projects, jobs, and driving to-and-fro to accomplish each and every day this week… and last week … and next week…
Things like routine dusting, enjoying sparkling windows, and pressed clothing are reserved for special occasions (or dearest hubbly who quietly does them when it gets too scurry to ignore).
What is important rises to the top of the list (well, sometimes it is an imaginary list, but a list just the same)…

It simply comes down this:


Matthew 6:33
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.


And in this…


Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

I am organized in my own strange way. I wish it were less strange, but if I focused on that I’d be giving up something else. I choose to be available to whatever need presents itself - like in the case of a phone call (I don’t ‘time’ them as I know some do (ugh) -- I simply multi-task) I am available.

And by-the-way: If I am on the phone I never give that "it's not-you ~ it's me break up line: “well, I’m going to let you go now…” . I simply listen and partake until it ends naturally ...or the other person, usually one of those ‘timer-people’ uses that heart-breaking let-you-go line ha ha...I bet they have organized junk drawers). I straighten sofa pillows, put away dishes, load laundry, move piles from one place to another (ha ha) - and with certain people, I can actually work on art while I talk! Amazing things can be accomplished with ONE HAND! (I really should get a hands-free set huh?). If I do need to get off the phone - I am honest and SAY SO ... Non of this "I’m going to let you go now I am not actually interested in ‘chat’ and my monthly ½ hour with you has expired so shush already" line.) I’m not bitter - I value honesty.

Anyway - being available has allowed incredibly wonderful life ministry experiences to take place. In the last week alone we were available to several people with needs … from computer repairs to errands to making dinner for a grieving family on the spur of the moment…and so it continues.
Our home is not a sty (oink) - though it has its moments (ha ha) - but the main hoopla is corralled for the most part. It could be a lot more stuffy & formal (I do have formal rooms - but stuffy is not the theme).

A house is a vessel to shelter and protect in more ways than just the physical - so, ours has been that - a place of refuge and fellowship 24/7.
Sleep, like organization, is sometimes optional around here.


The JOY comes in serving and following … and being available.



Yes, I wish I had a fairy-maid to keep my studio organized. *sigh*
Joy in the journey,
katey-D

Featured Art on eBay today: CLOWN BeBe (pictured above)
ALTERED ART DOMINO NECKLACE (more to follow this week!)

"Our House - is a very very very fine house... with two ducks in the yard... life used to be so hard ... now everything is easy cuz of You... "

(with a nod to Crosby, Stills and Nash)

The front door area

my studio garden (last spring) - my azaleas are poor this year and may get (shhh, don't tell them) removed!

my studio table - so NOT this organized at this very moment!!!