Shutter To Do List: Kitchen Command Center

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Shutter To Do List a great kitchen command center to keep your family organized

When I saw these mini shutters at a garage sale for $5 I couldn’t pass them up. I had no plan but tucked them away in mind, knowing a project would surface.

With the school year approaching I established a personal goal of not being “that mom” again who forgets things like crazy sock day, field trip t-shirts and awards ceremonies on a regular basis. I’m not sure what happened to me. I used to be so organized. I write everything down in my day planner.

Really I do.

I just forget to look at my day planner.

Especially in the hustle and bustle of getting out the door in the mornings.

When we pull in the school parking lot and total melt down ensues at the sight of a classmate in crazy socks is typically the moment I realize how much I forget. Luckily I am pretty quick on my feet and can pinch hit in moments like that. If you follow me on Instagram you likely saw this fiasco played out. The truth is I’d rather avoid these opportunities for creativity altogether.

And just be organized.

And only have the things on my to do list that need to be there.

Sometimes that takes creativity in itself. It also takes looking at things in a different order to bring order.

So that’s just what I did with the shutters. We always think of them as side by side items, sometimes turned on their sides, but this time I needed them joined end to end to fit the space I had to work with.  You know, change it up a bit.

The shutters got painted the same color as our walls with homemade chalk paint.

Next I pulled some shutter slats off an old shutter I found curbside and cut them to fit the width of the newly painted shutters (you could use paint stir sticks as a sub if needed). You would be amazed at all the little projects these shutter slats come in handy for.

To add a layer of rich color I stained the slats and baby clothespins with dark wood stain. I wood glued the slats and clothespins to the shutters. I want to add days of the week letters, but haven’t got that far yet.

The original hinges worked perfectly to attach the shutters together end to end instead of side by side. I didn’t even have to buy screws.

In place of chalkboard I used black cardstock (you could use construction paper) and a chalk marker (affiliate link).

Now I can write the important day to day things I forget in plain site, right in our kitchen where I have no choice but to see them everyday!

Sometimes I think God works the same way in our life.

He wrecks our order to bring His order.

John 2:2-25 recounts the time Jesus went to the temple and wrecked their order.

Jesus had just performed his first miracle and was establishing who he was and what he was all about. Jesus was angry about the disrespect and disregard to the true meaning of the temple. People had made it theirs.

Not in a good way.

The temple had been reduced to a place of convenience and self gain. All the hustle and bustle of merchants had made getting to the point of the temple, worship, difficult.

John 2:15 states: So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle: he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

The way the people had come to know and accept as normal was not His way.

And Jesus was mad.

He threw stuff and pitched a fit. With a whip!

All in order to get people back in line with what was best for them. True and meaningful worship in the temple.

Friends, maybe God is up in your temple turning tables right now. Maybe you feel like life is out of control. If you feel that way at all it might be time to look at things in a different way. See what things you have running side by side that need to run end to end. When we lose focus and our schedule becomes filled with what we want, what serves us and is convenient to us it can become heavy and burdened, out of control even. That is when our loving God will send a wave of disruption to our plans, in order to bring us to His plan.

I don’t know about you, but I need to take an inventory of my to do list. I need to pray about my yes and no. A full schedule of things I deem important easily becomes normal and I am no different than those in the temple, blind to what His way is over mine. It’s the little things that seem convenient and helpful at the time that can suddenly morph into roadblocks and distractions from the most important things of all – time in relationship with the Lord followed by walking out the task He assigns us.

Here is a good question to ask when going through your to do list, “Is this a God given task, or man made?” There are things we have to do and things we choose to do. Turning your to do list upside down can bring you into alignment with God’s plan for you. Just think, if you don’t shake it up, He will!

Would you please share this post so some one else who needs help with their to-do list can find it? Thanks friend!