Can I make a confession here?I am borderline-horrible as a homemaker.
Let's just say this is not a photo of MY pantry. No, my house is more like stacks of clean laundry that stay on our dining room table for way too long. Cluttered kitchen counters. Closets in serious need of a clean sweep.
But then there's Titus 2:4-5:
Have the older women teach the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure,
to be BUSY AT HOME.
There is a command and a call on us to be busy at home. Busy about the things that build up our homes. We could easily be busy about a thousand different things, but this is where we should be busy. Busy creating order. Busy making these places a sanctuary. Busy ensuring things will run smoothly. Busy blessing the people who live in it by doing all these other things.
One day when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed, these words kept running through my mind:
RIGHT 100 WRONGS.
And so I began to do that. For example, right this moment from where I'm sitting, I can see the following WRONGS:
* a pair of shorts my son dropped on the floor
* a sheet of stickers sitting on the other couch
* a book on the floor
* a school assignment my son needs to finish
* a comb sitting on the table
* a stuffed cat on the floor
* a pair of shoes sitting out
* a coloring book that didn't get put away
* a toy train car sitting on the floor
* a pen on the floor
See what I mean? And that's just my view from the couch where I'm typing this! I can get totally overwhelmed very quickly, and feeling overwhelmed makes me want to shut down and do nothing.
But if I will RIGHT 100 WRONGS every single day--putting away that book on the floor, wiping up that spill on the counter, straightening the towel in the bathroom, changing the paper towel roll, making that bed--each one of these things counted as a wrong that's been made right--I know I am being busy about the things of my home.
Now that I can do!
I want to be a good steward of the home God has given. Off to Right 100 Wrongs. :)
Father, please strengthen us to be busy at home. It is SO easy for us to be busy about SO many other things, but this was a priority to You, so it just plain has to be a priority to us. Keep laziness far from us and bless and multiply our efforts to restore order to our homes, that it may serve our families well. We love You!
It's possible to be too far on the other side of this, though, too....Mark and I have the opposite problem. We're both pretty much neat-freaks. We made it clear to both girls early on that "mess is not an option" but we've also been making deliberate choices to let more things slide. Like leaving a coffee cup in the sink rather than putting it straight into the dishwasher is NOT a grounding-offense. "Father, please help me to be a little more Mary and a little less Martha, focusing on the heart that really matters instead of striving for a perfection that only You can be."
ReplyDeleteThanks for this encouragementThea. I sometimes don't see the point in certain household chores yet they stress me out when they are not done. I want our home to be a place of rest for both of us. So often those little things are left undone out of laziness on my part. I understand the comment above and I am sure that I will struggle opposite direction at times (I know I will...I can be pretty OCD) but for now I needed these words of encouragement. Thank you! =)
ReplyDeleteAlesha <3
Ahh I am so guilty of this! Both me and my husband are pretty low key when it comes to keeping up the house so it's like all of a sudden it's an overwhelming mess. Something I've *tried* to start doing is taking just 15 minutes a day to straighten and pick up. It makes a big difference. And, wiping up/putting away things when i see them rather than putting it on my "I'll-do-it-later" list (which for some strange reason gets exponentially long!?!)Still a work in progress though. I have laundry that's been sitting in the basket for oh...like a month?! Maybe today I'll get to it! Hmm ok maybe I should change that maybe to "today I WILL" get to it. Basically what works for me is to not take on an overwhelming chunk but either do a quick clean up in 15 minutes, or to pick out a few things that are bugging me rather than focus on everything because that's when I go crazy! Good verse too. Good reminder to me of where some of my focus needs to be!
ReplyDeleteThea: This is absolutely beautiful. I so identify with being a not so great homemaker and having piles of laundry all around. It's craziness! (I went as far as to share pictures of my super messy house: http://www.summitstreetjoy.com/2012/01/authentic-blogging-real-house-reveal.html). Blogging really helps keep me accountable--- I think that's half the reason I do it! :) Thanks so much for sharing and for the prayer. You're right that God is so good to give us the privilege of caring for our homes! By the way, I just sent you an email about guest posting--- let me know what you think :) Blessings, ---lauren
ReplyDeleteI can right 600 wrongs....
ReplyDeletebetter get moving ...