Roadmaps, tools and tidying house.

Being the first overcast day in weeks here I am using it to clean house. (Desperately needed, I might add)
Came across the road map of directions to get to Cambridge, MD where my son Joshua is for the next year and a half. Went to throw it away and found that I couldn't. It was the map to get to where he is, and if needed I would get in the car this minute and go to be where he is. I would need the map to get there.
So as I have been buzzing around the house tidying and putting things in their proper place it has struck me that without the proper tools to do a job it is much harder to get the task done.
In relationships I often have the tools to get to where I need to be emotionally, spiritually or physically. So when I don't it really throws me into a storm of confusion; all kinds of emotions broiling around and coming to the top of my conciousness. I find myself becoming critical, resentful, insecure and needy. I don't like the person I become. I am weak, and can't imagine why anyone would take the time to get through the garbage to find the real person underneath. (side note* - if in the future you find me critical and unkind, ask me how my marriage is doing.)
Have just come through a storm like none I've ever gone through. Three friends in particular have come along side of me, reaching through the garbage and helping me to find the tools to get through. They've been real with me, confronting me in areas that needed to be brought forward. It has been hard, but I am thankful for their courage. It wasn't about them and their insecurities, it was about finding me a roadmap. I am grateful for their intervention.
Everyday we need a shepherd to guide us, to direct us. I don't always know the way on my own, I haven't always got the tools to do the job. He is faithful to get me through, with His own words of wisdom and with the goodness of the friends that He brings into my life. I would still be stuck in the storm if I hadn't listened to my friends, even though I often fight what they are saying to me.
So I continue to clean my house, using the tools that I have and putting things where they belong. Throwing out the garbage that has accumulated.

There is so much joy and contentment in a clean house.