Organize:  (1) To apply or impose efficient working methods in order to work effectively or make somebody else work effectively.  (2) To arrange the elements of something in a way that creates a particular structure.

When we were kids, my mother used to have an expression. “Living in this house is like living in the middle of Grand Central Station."  Growing up in New Jersey, I’d been to the famed New York City train station many times but I never fully understood what she meant until I had kids of my own.

“Has anyone seen my backpack?” youngest asks as he hurries to get ready for school.

“Have you found your cell phone so you can call me when you’re done?” queries my husband of our oldest who, despite continuous prodding from his parents, has no idea of his schedule from one day to the next.

“Mom?” reads a text from the same guy as he rides off to school this morning. “Can you bring my cleats to school?  I forgot we have practice today.”

“I would,” I text back.  “If I could find my car keys.”

“Living here is like living in the middle of Grand Central Station.”  I say aloud invoking the voice of my mother.  “We’ve got to get organized!”

Sitting in the local café this morning chatting with friends, I begin to talk about the upcoming semester at school.  “I have three classes at two different colleges,” I say aloud.  That’s three syllabi to prepare, three classes to prep, two different emails, voicemails, protocols to learn…”  I notice my head begin to spin a little.

There are people who come to organization naturally.  They pay their bills on time, file their papers in color-coded files and never miss a birthday.  Their closets are filled with linen organized by bedroom or bath, their shoes are stacked neatly in a basket by the door and next to the telephone is a calendar that contains all the events planned for the next six months to a year written legibly in ink.

I hate those kind of people.

I am of the “organizationally challenged,” persuasion.  I appreciate organization.  I value organization.  I envy organization.  I just have no idea how to do it. 

“There’s no time like the present,” I say to no one in particular.  “New year, new semester, new leaf.”  On the way home, I stopped at a local store to find myself a desk.  One way or the other, I’m going to get organized. 

My grandmother used to say that God only gives us challenges He knows we can handle.

Thanks a lot God.