Sometimes a mess is good for the soul.

This picture is pre-mess...just give him 5 minutes, and it will be a whole 'nother story.

When I looked across the den tonight to see my little man dumping out toy after toy while he slobbered on one of his shoes, hair askew and pants too long, my heart could not have felt warmer, even if I had cozied-down with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a good pair of slippers. 

I am so blessed by the regular old every day.

I love that Newbie spends his afternoons dumping out every last toy he has and that I spend my evenings picking them all up so he can do it all over again tomorrow.

I love that there are binkies floating around here like fish in the sea, that they are jammed between my chapstick and my Bible on my nightstand, hiding under the crib and the couch, hanging out in a random corner on the kitchen counter and in the backseat of the car, and I love that for all the dollars worth of Nuk pacifiers we have laying around here, I can't seem to ever find one when we need one.

I love that Opie's freakin' hair is plastered into my carpets like somebody super-glued it to the floor when I wasn't looking and that it won't come up with the vacuum no matter how many times I cross my fingers and try.

I love that the Hubs empties his pockets on the kitchen counter, business cards, receipts, dinner mints, keys, wallet, phone, dumping everything from his day out on display when he gets home from work even though somebody around here is trying to whip up some baby food and chop up some chicken for dinner in that very same spot.

I love that our laundry has piled up so much in our bedroom that the Hubs looked at it a couple nights ago, dubbed it the "Laundry Monster" and said, "I'm kinda afraid it's gonna to eat me."

I love all of these messes because they are the bits and pieces scattered throughout my day that keep it real.  Behind every mess is the blessing that put it there, and I fiercely love those blessings. 

My ordinary every day is not always fun, its not always easy, and its definitely messy- binkies, toys, laundry, piles, piles, piles! But life isn't always fun or easy, and life is messy!  And this is it- this is life.  Its messy and crazy and lots of work, but its a gift.

"You are more than dust and bones.

You are spirit and power and image of God.

And you have been given Today."

-Shauna Niequist, Cold Tangerines

I am going to take my Today- my ordinary, messy, run-of-the-mill Today- and run with it.

I'm going to look past the messes to the radiant blessings that put them there. I'm going to smile at the drooly little boy giggling at me while he tosses another load of blocks across the floor, and I'm going to pat Opie on the head while he dumps loads of puggle fur on the dining room carpet, and I'm going to smooch the Hubs when he comes home from work while he sets his pile on the counter.  I might even try and tackle some laundry, but one thing's for sure, I am going to take Today with a grateful heart and do everything I can to love well, because Today, in all it's ordinary, is the most beautiful of gifts.

What are you going to do with your Today?