Of Motes And Beams

Matt. 7: 3-5

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Just the other day, I was about to reach over and give a tug to someone's mote when I remembered this scripture. I gave a little chuckle and thought, "Oops, better look for my beam." When I found my beam I was shocked, SHOCKED. It is the kind of shock one feels when they realize that they have gone all day with their zipper down, baby puke down their back, spinach in their teeth, and their skirt stuck in their pantyhose. Why on earth didn't someone tell me my beam was so freakin' huge??? I had to laugh because it wasn't just a beam but an elaborate domino effect. My home is in shambles, and it happened all too quick. My counters are covered in crumbs... several days worth. I have piles of trash in the corners of my kitchen and dining room. My children are all grumpy, I'm never dressed, I am not feeding anyone, and nothing else is getting done either. How did this happen? I'm not sure where, when, or even how it started but I do know that it must stop. Lets start with the morning domino (even though I know it isn't the domino that started it all). I have completely stopped doing my awesome SMART Habit Saturdays so I am not jumping out of bed. The bed isn't getting made so the room isn't getting cleaned, so the laundry isn't getting in the hamper and the laundry room, so I'm out of pants and underwear, so I don't shower, so I feel down and decide to blog before starting my usual morning routines, so the kids aren't doing their chores, so the kitchen is still dirty when it is time to make lunch, so I don't make lunch, so the kids feed themselves and make a bigger mess, so I half heartedly ask them to do chores, but I'm so behind in my own chores that I don't have time to help them finish their chores, so we never finish and therefore never start our school work, so when Cookie comes home we are nowhere near ready to start our after-school chores, so by the time DSSH gets home the house is still trashed and I haven't even thought about dinner, so dinner is lame and very late, so i don't have time to read scriptures with the boys, so the kids go to bed late, so I go to bed late, so I wake up too tired to jump out of bed. There are also a gazillion other things that aren't getting done because of all of this. Quite the beam, wouldn't ya say? So this morning I jumped out of bed. the laundry is going like crazy, the dishes are washing, I know what we are having for dinner tonight, and I unplugged the TV (again) until the chores and school work are done. I know I am always blogging about my start-overs and new goals and new plans. I need all these start overs because I'm just not one of those people that is good at consistency. I guess you could say that I could build my big dream house out of all the beams I've collected through the years. The important part is that I keep trying again, right? So, here is to another beautiful day of laundry, routines, and blissful order in the home. And as for the person with the mote, I've learned that other people's motes never look as bad once my beam is removed so they can just keep 'em.