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Sometimes my microwave feels like a microcosm of my life.

To clarify: Not like this cute, peaceful stock photo.

See, I’m not what you’d call a super-clean person. I generally like things cleaned up. One of us makes our bed. I feel a little twinge with dirty dishes in the sink.

But an ooky microwave? It just brings a girl down.

I have tried the BPA-free splatter-guard. I have instructed my children to clean up whatever messes they have made, now that they’re tall enough. Even though somehow, they do not see the Jackson-Pollock flair of spaghetti sauce across the microwave ceiling. (It’s red, people.)

But sometimes, my life just blows up.

It spits all over the place, and I am the Keeper of the Box. Not because it’s my mess, but because it’s my microwave.

Sometimes I don’t even know what I’m cleaning up. I just know I need–maybe a jackhammer. Or one of those cool tricks, like a bowl of vinegar.

Sometimes my metaphorical ParentTrick Bag is empty, or at least my Parent Energy Bag. And I can only rest my forehead on the edge and wish for an unsullied cup of tea.

I don’t know what your 2020 microwave, so to speak, looks like. I don’t know if something’s blown up, or if you’re just trying to not have cold coffee.

So here’s what I’m suggesting. Heat up the coffee, and maybe add a dollop of whipped cream, if you’re sure it’s not growing anything from its stint in the fridge.

Take a few of those costly, quiet moments. Take a few of them to just be.

Clean Questions: A Prayer of Examen for the New Year

Let’s evaluate your “microwave” (hey, a girl’s gotta have a metaphor) and clean house a little.

First, consider going through a yearly Prayer of Examen; this article makes it pretty easy, and workable for whatever time you’ve got. Stephen Smith has a more in-depth version, if you want to marinate in this a bit.

I’ve talked about a daily Examen before, because I’ve warmed up (see what I did there?) to this idea of watching for God in my day, of noticing him and listening. I like the idea of beginning my year breathing gratitude, and remembering who holds these next 12 months, this next decade.

(Print this free.)
examen 2020 new year microwave

I completed a short, I-didn’t-know-this-was-a-thing version of the yearly Examen. I filled up a couple of sheets of paper with what I could remember about each month.

It explained some of the things I was sensing inside (um. Like some impending burnout). It helped me turn my eyes to all that went right, too. And some themes of who I wanted to be in 2020; ways I wanted to respond to God.

The Warm-Up

If this is your jam, let me throw you a few more questions for you to spin around. (I can’t stop!)

What ways would I like to respond to God this year?
What words would I use to describe the person I’d like to grow in?

(Presence. Courage. Less hurried.)

What’s one way I could love people more deeply this year?
What’s one way I’d love to grow as a parent? As a spouse?
What words would I use to describe last year, positive and/or negative?
What ways did I see God change me last year? Are there ways I drifted from him?
What is one sin of mine I’ve minimized for too long, that’s been more destructive than I care to admit? What do I want to do about it?
Are there long-term goals I’d like to take steps toward?

(Simplicity has been one for my husband and I. And realizing we only have seven years with kids at home, we’re re-prioritizing.)

Is there someone I need to reconcile with?
What area of my life feels the least healthy right now?

However you do this–do make the space. Choose to be with God, and reflect on how far you’ve come and where you’re going in 2020 and even further than that.

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