Aren't you embarrassed?!

Someone recently asked me, "Aren't you embarrassed to post those before/after pictures of your house online?"

I've reflected on that question for a few days and my answer is...yes and no.

I am ashamed that my house got to that level of disorder and chaos. I am sure I will soon be posting lots of my reflections about things that I've learned along this journey; however....

I am not too embarrassed to post the before pictures, because I see it as no different than people posting before/after weight loss pictures. These pictures help me to see how far I have come and they hold me accountable...they remind me that I don't want to go back to that point of utter despair and humiliation.

I also hope that these pictures will help other people who may be in similar situations. It took me years to finally allow someone to come into my home and help me. I was too embarrassed to ask my close friends that I frequently spend time with. I finally asked a friend that I see twice a year at a local consignment sale to come help me. As I stood at the door of the first room we decluttered, I was basically paralyzed. I didn't know where to start...it was too overwhelming. I had started working in that room before and quickly gave up....I needed someone like my friend, Geri, to come in and basically take over. I am now motivated to tackle more areas of my house on my own.

I challenge anyone who is feeling lost or overwhelmed with clutter to find a nonjudgemental friend to come and at least help you get started. I feel so much happier...and I don't have that tight feeling in my chest every morning when I wake up.

There is still A LOT of work to be done, but I am now motivated to continue making progress! Thank you all for your encouragement, prayers, and support! Now I need to get up from this computer and keep working....

Happy Birthday to My Sister

Just wanted to take the opportunity to say 

"Happy Birthday" to my sister, Jessica! 

Love ya!

These pictures were taken at her wedding...it was a beautiful day!

Don't Look in the Bags!

My awesome friend, Geri, came today and helped me make more progress in the dungeon basement! She even brought her 2 daughters who had no idea what they were in for...we started in my "office." During all of the cleaning and sorting, I saw Geri filling trash bags with stuff...there ended up being 6 trash bags! I was tempted to open all of the bags and "make sure" that I didn't need the stuff in the bags, but after talking to some other friends...they made me promise that I would NOT look in the bags! :)

 There's still a lot of work to do, but....WOW! I can't believe we made this much progress!!

Next, we moved into Eli's room...we got 2 bags of trash out of this room. Eli was so surprised when he got home tonight!!

 Once again, Sydney was SO HAPPY to have space to roll around!! :)

Apparently, two of my best friends had their feelings hurt because they have never seen my basement...well, I am sure Geri wouldn't mind having their help when we move on to the next part of the basement!! LOL

Revolve

Are you still going to the Summit?

Did you join Ridgecrest?

Where is your family going to church now?

Why did you leave the Summit?

These are just a few of the questions we've been asked over the past year. I've been wanting to write a blog post about our journey, but I wasn't exactly sure how to answer all of those questions...I honestly didn't know the answers to some of the questions. 

Since 2001, as active members of Homestead Heights Baptist Church (which became the Summit Church), Jarrod and I were involved in lots of different ministries. The Summit Church has been a huge part of our lives...through our infertility journey, pregnancy loss, and the birth of our two sons. Unfortunately, at some point we became disconnected. This sometimes happens as churches grow, but we do not blame the church. We had every opportunity to get involved with small groups, but as Jarrod's work schedule constantly changed and eventually led him to Maryland, we made excuses why we just couldn't get more involved. Eventually we simply stopped going to church. 

Months passed and I knew we needed to make a decision....find a way to get involved at the Summit again or find another church to join.  Our boys were already involved in the awesome Children's Ministry at Ridgecrest Baptist Church...they had attended Awana and VBS there for a couple years. I knew lots of people there and had been invited to Ladies Craft Night and other events. So, Jarrod and I started going to Ridgecrest and joined an awesome Sunday School Class. We finally felt connected again....but I was not ready to join. I was still feeling pulled to something different.

My awesome coworker, Brunell Moody, had been keeping me updated on the new church her son and daughter-in-law were launching. I had dinner with them one night and they explained their vision for Revolve Church. I told them that I would pray for their church, but I couldn't get involved because we were just becoming active at Ridgecrest. Over the next few months, God kept placing Revolve Church on my heart. Our Sunday School class began a time of transition with our leaders leaving and I felt that it was time for us to make a commitment to Revolve Church. From the time I made that commitment to join their launch team, I became excited about church again....I don't mean that to sound negative toward the Summit or Ridgecrest....both of those churches are doing awesome things for Durham (and the world!!) I am just excited to be a part of something new...helping something start from the ground up.

If you are curious about Revolve Church, please come out to Frankie's Fun Park on Thursday, June 21st at 6:00pm. You will learn more about the mission of the church and there is no obligation to get involved! Please join us for dinner and a FUN night learning more about how God is building this church to impact Durham. Feel free to ask me any other questions....you can leave a comment here or email me at walkerfamily94@gmail.com. 

Progress

I had an awesome, brave friend come help me in my downstairs family room/junk room today! I joked and told her that I was going to make her sign a confidentiality agreement so she couldn't tell anyone how bad it was. For some insane reason, I decided to post evidence online. Joseph was home today and helped us, too.

 It's like "Where's Waldo?" Where's Joseph?!

 I still need to go through a few boxes of toys. Thankfully the consignment sale is coming up soon!!

Sydney was so excited! She actually had room to roll around on the carpet...now I need to vacuum again!!