Miracle Workers

A special kind of happiness exists in seeing order begin to return to a house.

Over the past couple of months, Brenda and Hayleigh have been helping me methodically work through my house, and I cannot tell you what a difference it has made. And not just to the house – It has made a remarkable difference in me. These two have cleaned, sorted, carried, shifted, arranged, and steadily helped me reclaim rooms and corners— things that had become too hard for me to manage alone.

Now I need to say this: I love organization. Always have. In my day, I was an organizing fanatic. My house didn’t always show it, but I could straighten, sort, arrange, and temporarily improve my home with the best of them. Lately, I have not had mobility or spunk to do what needs to be done. And just as importantly, I have not had enough room. Space IS the final frontier, and space has been one of the greatest gifts Brenda and Hayleigh have given me. They have created room to breathe. By carrying things downstairs to be stashed, by moving one category out so another one can move in, by making room for the house to function again, they have made it possible for things to look more as I think they should. The china is a perfect example. There was no earthly way those china closets, cupboards, and shelves were ever going to look pretty and sensible. Easter, Halloween, and Christmas were all trying to live in the same real estate. No wonder it all felt crowded. No wonder the shelves were defeated and sad. Once Brenda and Hayleigh began making magic, giving things a proper home, the China could finally begin to look like China again instead of a traffic jam with gravy boats.

And these two have a gift for organization. They enjoy it, they understand it, and they are good at it. They can walk into a room and begin to see order where other people only see a problem. That is a real gift, and I admire it very much.

I have known Brenda a very, very long time. She was one of my first students when I began teaching. I remember well a pretty, little blonde girl who sat by the window in my classroom. So there’s something especially sweet about having her in my life all these years later, helping me in this season of it. And now to also have her granddaughter Hayleigh here feels like one of those unexpected, full-circle blessings that life sometimes gives us.

These two have meant so much to me, and the spirit they bring with them really shines. They come in this house cheerful. They work so hard. They make quick decisions. They laugh. They keep going. Three hours with them each week passes faster than anything possible, and yet by the end of it something real, almost magical, has happened every single time.These pictures tell a good bit of the story. Trying to find places in the drama, craft things get sorted into tubs. Shelves begin to make sense again. Rooms feel lighter and more usable; however, the pictures do not quite show the relief or the encouragement of it. The companionship of having good women helping me bring order back to my world sparkles as the real star of the show.

This fabulous grandmother-granddaughter duo has been a real blessing to me, and I am so grateful.