Piles to Go

by Mary May Larmoyeux
“I’ll do better this year!”

That’s how I feel as I look at the fresh pages of January's calendar. It’s full of promise, hope, and of
course … resolutions.

An ongoing resolution of mine is to de-clutter things. You know, a place for everything … everything in
its place. Well, you get the picture.

I actually made some great strides last year!  Now, no one will be severely injured when the avalanche of
papers pour out of the roll top desk. (Isn’t it great how you can close the top of a roll top desk—a mother
must have designed the first one.)  So, I’m making progress.

When I was in high school, one of the Student Council mottos was “Miles to go before I sleep.” You’ve
probably guessed it, my motto for this year—until today—has been “Piles to go before I sleep.”  

Therein lies the problem.

I want to go through piles and piles each day and organize everything. My to-do-list is always way too
long. “Just write down what you can reasonably accomplish,” my wise husband reminds me.

I think I need to make my motto “A pile a day keeps the problems away.” Yes, a pile … one pile.  

This strategy will work. I’ve got evidence.

Exhibit A:  the mail. As I told my husband last night, we didn’t have a laundry basket filled with mail from
the holidays. (That has happened before.) Why? Because we vowed to go through the small stack of
mail each day and deal with each piece appropriately. And we succeeded—most of the time.

I just feel like Martha Stewart knowing that there is no laundry basket this year filled with Christmas
cards, letters, bills, advertisements, and who knows what. Yes, I’ve come a long way, baby … but I have
a long way to go.

Okay, so back to this new, fresh year. I quickly grow overwhelmed and frustrated as I see all that “must
be done.” But when I think of 365 days in a year, I have hope. I’ve got at least 365 opportunities to do
some things right.

Although I won’t succeed a lot of the time, I am encouraged that God understands my dilemma.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) reminds us:

                                             The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
                                                     his mercies never come to an end;
                                                           they are new every morning;
                                                              great is your faithfulness.

With every sunrise, there is new hope. God’s mercies never come to an end. Guess I need to lighten up
a little on myself.

Today is a new day … with one new pile. I will go forth and conquer it.
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Mary is the author of Help for Busy Moms: Purposeful Living to
Simplify Life and the co-author of The Resurrection Eggs®
Activity Book. She and her  husband, Jim, live in Little Rock,
Arkansas, and have two married sons and five grandchildren.
You can contact her at mary@marymaywrites.com.
Copyright © 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.