Book Review: The Organized Heart

A Woman’s Guide to Conquering Chaos by Staci Eastin.

Staci Eastin is a blogger I’ve known for a while. She runs in my circle of blogging friends, you might say. When I found out she was writing a book for women on organizing the home—or “organizing chaos,” to use the wording of the subtitle—I was pretty sure this wasn’t a book for me, since I’ve never had much a problem with chaos in my home, at least not for long.

But then Staci offered to send me a copy of her book. How could I refuse?

Guess what? It turns out that there’s a chapter especially for me in The Organized Heart; or rather, there’s a chapter for a younger me. (I’ve been at this running a home thing for 35 years now. I’ve worked things out, or more accurately, God has worked in me, and I’m mostly content with things as they are.)

But I’ll get to the chapter that applies to me after I quote what Staci writes about this book.

This book will be different than any other book on organization that you’ve probably read. I have no schedule to offer you, I won’t tell you what day to mop the kitchen floor, and you don’t need to buy a timer. Your standards for an organized home and a reasonable schedule will vary with your personality, season of life, and the needs and preferences of your family.

Staci looks at our difficulties managing our homes through the lens of idolatry. 

I have identified four idols that seem to particularly hinder women from serving God effectively. They are leisure, busyness, perfectionism, and possessions. You may find that you only struggle with one or two, or you may discover that your problems have their root in all four. I will examine all of them so that you, by the grace of God, can identify where your weakness lie, and begin to experience a more joyful walk with the Lord.

I bet you can guess which idol was (and maybe is) mine! Yes, I tend toward perfectionism. It was a real struggle for me to learn to put the well-being of my family ahead my plans and lists and desires for a perfect home. I’ll admit to sometimes being difficult to live with, especially for the messies in my family—and we had a few. I’ll also admit to not enjoying my children enough because I was too concerned with running a tip-top home. 

What Staci writes about perfectionism seems exactly right to me. I’ve been driven by the need to keep up appearances before others and the need to be better than everyone else at almost everything. I have lightened up over the years, but the remnants of the perfectionism idol remain. I am not always content with what I have and with what I can do. At the heart of it, I’m not always content with what God has given me.

Staci Eastin is a writer living in Missouri. She and her husband, Todd, have been married since 1994 and are the parents of three children. She blogs at Writing and Living.

If you manage a home and family, you’ll probably find that at least one or two of the idols Staci has identified applies to you. The Organized Heart can help you examine your heart so that you can fulfill your calling, and do well, and with pure motives, the things that God has for you to do in this season of your life. 

The Organized Heart is from Cruciform Press, where every book is “short, clear, well-written, well-edited, and accessible.” Click on the image above to purchase it in various formats. Click here to purchase from Amazon.com.