I Really Need to Clean Out My Car...

Do you admit that you have bad habits? I don't always admit it, but I know that I have quite a few.  Some of them are quite obvious, especially if you've ever seen the interior of my car. It's a good thing that I have so many children, because I am almost never have room for visitors in my car, which makes it easy to keep it a secret.
My car is a complete mess.
I've tried to keep it neat and tidy, but to no avail. Dirty clothes, clothes that were  once clean but are now dirty, empty juice boxes, lost notes from teacher, receipts; the list is endless. Its more contained in the summer months because it is easier to make my kids clean it out. But the winter time is particularly difficult. It's just too cold. I avoid letting this messy cat out of the bag because I very seldom have anyone else in my car. However, I'm getting tired of throwing things over the back seat and stuffing papers under chairs on those rare occasions when we do have company. 
Keeping bad habits hidden is hard work. And how I ever get over something bad if I keep it hidden?
I can't...

Revelation 12:11

"They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death."(NIV)

I don't know about you, but I've become an expert at keeping many of my bad habits pretty well hidden, but that's probably why I still have them. Because I was ashamed of them, I refused to let them be seen. Once you let something that you know you have struggled with be seen by someone that you trust, that person won't only help you with it, but they will hold you accountable for overcoming it. Especially in marriage.
There are so many things that go on in a husband/wife relationship that the big things are blown up even bigger and the little things are made to look even bigger than they are. If you work hard and stay consistent, you and your husband can overcome the small, the big and the even bigger. And when you overcome those issues, its important to share with someone that you did.
The drama that you see isn't unique to you. There are wives every where that deal with the same things that you do and they have absolutely no idea how to go about working on it. That's where your expert testimony comes in. You may not be in the place to give them all of the dirty details, but you can help a fellow Insane Wife, whether new or old, fight some of the same challenges you face. Then, there are those times when you can confide in someone while you are going through. Maybe a trusted colleague can help you shed some light on a situation that you couldn't see before.And when everyone overcomes, everyone can celebrate.
You have to get to a place where you love yourself and your marriage more than you love the comfort of hiding a bad habit. Bad habits are only as bad as you keep them hidden. Once you expose them to the light, they don't seem so deep and dark.
Unless we're talking about my messy car...

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