Examining God’s Word
“Who can find a virtuous woman?
for her price is far above rubies.
She looketh well to the ways of her household,
and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Proverb 31:10&27
Evaluating Our Garden
Cleaning takes time and is never done. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that. If you’re blessed to have a residence with a roof over your head, a floor beneath your feet, a bed to make, and a laundry basket full of clothes, you know that taking care of your space is an ongoing responsibility.
Living causes dirt, clutter, and dust bunnies. The more people living in your home, the more dust you’ll have hiding under the bed. That’s why cleaning takes time, (dust bunnies are hard to catch).
Keeping our households running smoothly, often takes more time than we have or want to give. To keep our homes under manageable control, we must give time to it.
Experiencing Seasons
At the beginning of this year I knew my home desperately needed a deep spring cleaning (it had been put off for three years due to life challenges and changes). I couldn’t put it off any longer.
I struggled with where to start. As I slouched on my loveseat contemplating putting it off another year, I looked around my home and had a lightbulb moment,
“Gurl, there are only four walls in each room.
You can handle that! Just do one wall at a time.”
So, I determined to face the challenge and began by:
- Picking which room to start first
- Deciding when to begin
- Setting a deadline
- Gathering my supplies
- Committing to finish
My daily attempts at keeping our clutter down and basic cleaning done helped tremendously. While I was still overwhelmed, instead of looking at cleaning the whole house top to bottom, I focused on one wall and started there.
Embracing Solace
This reminded me. Cleanliness brings coziness. Coziness brings Comfort. Comfort brings contentment, and that, added to our godliness, brings added benefits.
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
1 Timothy 6:6
Enjoying Simplicity
The “one wall at a time” idea may sound elementary to you, but it was the simple, bite-sized, action plan I needed to swallow procrastination and regain contentment.
Cleaning is much less complicated and time-consuming than we make it. Try fifteen minutes and see how much you get done.
Employing Solutions
I do understand that the efficiency of our households depends on a number of factors—the condition of our homes, habits, energy, resources, schedules, and responsibilities. Discipline and time management play equal parts as well. We must also consider our cleaning priorities and:
- Our current lifestyle needs,
- What time we have available
- The best use of our space
- The number of residents we care for
- If our furnishing are practical and appropriate
- If we need to de-clutter or discard
- If we need to make things easier
- If we have health limitations
- If help is needed
Our homes are as unique as we are. We don’t have to try to keep up with social media’s standards. We have to be good stewards of our households and do what works for us. Cleaning is not an interruption to living, it’s part of living.
A virtuous woman doesn’t neglect her chores or give into idleness. She knows that’s a sure-fired way of getting overtaken by dust bunnies!
Bring It Home
How much time do you give to cleaning each week?
(I try at least 1 hour a day.)
Praying for you as we grow together,
Smiles, BRC
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