Keeping the home clean "enough"

 Before I was married I had my own apartment for two years. In that time I learned what I did and didn't like in keeping my little home.  I like things neat and orderly and cannot stand clutter.  So, when I got married that's how I kept our first apartment.  It was just the two of us and easy to keep up with not only the every day cleaning but also keeping everything organized.  

After a year we moved into an older house, built in 1923, that had not been lived in for a few years.  Besides having to contact the city to have them fill in a hole at the end of the driveway; left there when they removed a tree stump.  We also had a lot of cleaning to do before we even moved in.  There was a lot of clutter left by the former owner's estate, a toilet that was literally black inside from mildew, and carpets that were stuck to the floor from who-knows-what-and-I-didn't-even-want-to-think-about.  We spent a week deep cleaning as much as we could before moving in.  Over the 14 years we lived there we redid almost every room in the house and had 6 kids.  So...I learned to live with some chaos, dust and clutter but always felt great when we finished a project and I could clear the dust and organize the space.  

The biggest project was when we remodeled the kitchen ourselves.  It took two years.

Below is a picture of mid-remodel. 

With each new baby came more stuff...clothing, gear, shoes, etc. and I'd have to figure out a new way to try and organize and contain everything.  Back in 2012 I blogged about trying to find a solution for all the shoes; you can read about that here, if you'd like.  While I still use this same system, we've outgrown the storage, had two more kiddos and shoes have gotten bigger.  It doesn't hold all our shoes anymore, but is still helpful to have.

Over the years I've read different cleaning and organizing methods, tried different ones and adjusted my idea of how clean and organized the house can be while still prioritizing time together and building into relationships.  I've chatted with my husband about his preferences and learned to adjust to what works for our family and home.  

There are three things that I've implemented over the years that have been a great help in this area.

1) Everybody Helps - This may sound like a given to you but it can be an adjustment.  From the time the kids were about 2 years old they have helped switch laundry from the washer to the dryer and other small tasks they could do.  Obviously, as they've gotten older they help with more. Setting the expectation of helping early and making it fun for them made it easier to adjust to them helping more as they got older.  When we have a larger number of tasks to do I write a list and they all choose what they want to do from that list.  Typically they can agree on who will do what job but if there is any disagreement we use "rock, paper, scissors" to decide. 

As part of this, I had to learn to let go of things being done "my way".  Yes, there are things we teach them to do a certain way but if they fold a shirt differently it doesn't mean it's "wrong".  ;-)

2)10-minute cleanup - This should probably be #1 as this has been the most helpful idea we've implemented.  When the kids were younger I found myself getting frustrated at the messes they made.  I felt like I was spending all day following them around and getting after them to clean up before moving to the next thing.  While I still encourage them to pick up after themselves I no longer stress if the house gets messy during the day.  Each day, typically before dinner I call "Ten minute clean up!" and everyone knows to walk through the house and pick up anything they see that's out of place.  Straighten up the couch pillows and cushions, etc.  With everyone working together it rarely takes longer than 10 minutes to put the house back in order. 

3) Weekly "sketch"/tasks - This is a system I used for several years and then recently started again (and wonder why I ever stopped as it's so helpful).  It's similar to all those cleaning schedules you see online but tailored to our home and what I can realistically get done in one day.  Have you seen some of those online schedules! There's no way I could get all that done each day! :)  So I sat down and wrote out each weekday and a list of tasks I do on those days.  I also have a list of tasks I do everyday and usually a weekly goal which is an extra task for that week.  I also have a place for more longterm tasks.  It's a simple list/schedule I keep in an app on my phone.  As part of this I do a weekly "sketch" to pencil in where other tasks will fit in my week or if I need to move days around because of appointments, etc.  I find having it all written out helps keep me on track and if plans change and I have to miss a task I don't stress because I know I can either catch up on Friday or it'll get done the next week.  

Here is a screenshot of what my weekly task outline looks like.

 

Sometimes I look at it and think "that's not much" but it doesn't include cooking (other than weekly bread making), running kids around to where they need to be and other unexpected tasks.  I find it's a good outline while leaving room for me to pivot where God leads.   What tools/schedules have you found to be helpful in keeping your home?  

Word for 2022

For the past several years I've chosen a word at the beginning of each year to keep in mind.  I wasn't sure if I was going to have one for this year; partially because the word that kept coming to my mind isn't found in Scripture.  Since I started choosing a word for each year I have also chosen a Bible verse with that word to think on each month.  I have a letter board in our entryway and change out the verse each month so that one of the first things I see each morning is a Scripture containing the word. 

After thinking about it; and having it come up in several different contexts over the past few weeks I've decided that my word for 2022 will be Focus.  Just like in the picture above, as we draw closer to God, He gets bigger, He fills more of our vision, and we see so much more the intricacy and beauty of Who He is.  

As I pray about how to focus better there are a couple steps that I'm taking and praying that God will continue, over this year, to show me any other areas I need to change.  

 - First, I deactivated my Facebook account; this may not sound like a big deal but it was a tough decision.  There are communities that I'm involved in, there is family news posted there and a lot of people use it as their primary communication.  But on the other hand, the nastiness, division, constant complaining, bad news, etc.  all was just too much.  So, I shut it down...for now I have no plans to reactivate it.  

 - Second, I'm committing to embrace a JOMO attitude rather than a FOMO attitude.  What is that?! You ask.  Well, FOMO is an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out while JOMO is an acronym for Joy Of Missing Out.  See, we will never miss out on what God has for us if we are focused on following Him; so anything that we may "miss out" on means that it wasn't really for us anyway.  

 - Third, I'm choosing to read some books this year that focus on Who God is and not just what He does for us.  I've mentioned a few times that I'm going through Tony Evan's book God Himself; one of the main reasons I chose to read that book was to refocus my mind; off of what can seem overwhelming and onto the One who is so much greater.  I'm also planning to read The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller and also a Biography of Susannah Spurgeon.  

So, there it is.  My word for 2022.  Oh, and I've decided that since my goal this year is to focus more on God Himself, I will be choosing verses each month for our letter board that highlight a truth about God's character.  Do you have a word for 2022?  If so please share and I'd love to hear how you chose that word.  

Gospel of Luke: Advent - Chapter 24

Good evening.  As we end our time in Luke I want to highlight just a few things from this last chapter.  First though, can you imagine being one of the men on the road to Emmaus?!  To have Jesus Himself explain all of Scripture to you and how it all points to Him!  I'm so thankful that while Jesus isn't physically here with us right now we have His written Word and His Spirit to teach and guide us.  

The Resurrection:

- Remember! What Jesus said.  "the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.  And they remembered his words," (vs. 7-8)

- The apostles didn't believe the women, that the tomb was empty; but Peter went to see for himself (vs. 11-12)

On the Road to Emmaus: 

- I had never noticed before that these men walking with Jesus had been there when the women came and told the disciples that the tomb was empty.  (vs 22-24)

- Jesus, like the angel at the tomb, says remember!  Remember what the prophets said! (vs. 25-26)

Jesus Appears to His disciples:

- Remember what I taught you!  "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (vs. 46-47)

A couple final thoughts.  It's so important to be in Scripture so that when we face trials Jesus can remind us of what He has taught us through His Word.  There are verses that, as we face different circumstances, Jesus gives us a greater understanding of their truth.  In verse 49 Jesus tells the disciples to stay "until you are clothed with power from on high." In verses 52-53 we see that they obeyed this command to stay; but notice their attitude as they waited for God to equip them in His time...."and were continually in the temple blessing God."  They didn't mope, worry or try to jump ahead of God's timing.  They spent this period of waiting continually worshiping God.  

As I read all of the "remember" statements in this chapter the song Look What God Has Done came to mind.  When we don't know what the future holds or how long we may have to wait in a season we can always look back at what God has done and praise Him. 

Gospel of Luke: Advent - Chapter 23

 Good Morning.  I've been trying to write this post for a few days but couldn't find the right words.  How do you blog about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus?  How do you convey through a keyboard the immense gift that Jesus bought with His death; the gratitude for that gift and the deep longing for others to realize the precious gift of salvation and to accept that gift for themselves.  

Our sin is what made the cross necessary but Jesus willingly laid down his life to pay the penalty for our sins.  As I read through chapter 23 I was struck by the many different times and people who declared Jesus innocent; a confirmation that He didn't deserve the cross and that it was His choice.  Twice, in verses 4 and 22, Pilate declares Jesus innocent.  In verses 14-15 Pilate again declares that He found Jesus innocent and also adds that Herod found Jesus innocent.  The thief on the cross, even in his own suffering defended Jesus and declared that He had done nothing wrong (vs. 41) and finally in verse 47 the Roman centurion says "Certainly this man was innocent!"  Jesus did not deserve the cross; yet he chose it!

I'm going to do something a bit different today.  As so often happens God brings together thoughts from many different teachers and places.  As I've mentioned before, I'm currently reading Tony Evans' book titled God Himself: A Journey Through His Attributes.  In the chapter discussing the Love of God Dr. Evans shares just how powerful God's love was displayed in the crucifixion.  Instead of typing it all out I'm going to share pictures of the pages (pages 141-143) and would encourage you to study through God's attributes, using this book or another.  It's so important to keep our focus on God!  I will warn you that it's an uncomfortable read at times because we're so used to living in a world where God is put into a box, where His wrath is downplayed and His justice is only convenient when it's focused where we want it to be.  

Take some time and read through this: 

It's hard, I'd say even impossible here on earth, to fathom the depths of God's love for us that would cause Him to choose to endure all this!

I want to share one last quote today from this book.  It's found on page 101 in the chapter titled "The Wrath of God".  After reading the pages above I pray that you will prayerfully consider this warning. It's not comfortable or convenient to realize this but it's eternally important.  

"That is why God will not tolerate people rejecting Christ. He will not 
tolerate it because an eternal God let His eternal Son pay an
eternal price for our eternal sin that eternal people might live 
with Him eternally.  But if we reject the God who paid the price and bore the wrath
of God due us through His Son for our sin, then we will face the 
eternal consequences.  God paid too high a price for us to play games with His wrath."

Reading through the Bible in 2022

Good morning,  I thought I'd take a minute to share the plan I will be using this year to read through the Bible.  If you have never read through the Bible I encourage you to make that a goal this year.  I had read much of the Bible but up until 2019 I had never read through it entirely.  At the beginning of 2019 our pastor issued a challenge for everyone in our church to read through the entire Bible that year.  Since that first time I have read through the Bible each year using different reading plans.  Each of these can be found in the YouVersion app.  Here are the ones I've done each year and then I'll chat about the one I'm using this year.

2019 - Genesis - Revelation in order; since there was a group of us reading it together I chose to read from "cover-to-cover" for this first time.

2020 - Historical Sequence - This is probably my favorite plan I've used so far and I plan to use it again in the future.  The plan in YouVersion is broken up into 12 parts.  I love history and really appreciated how this plan places the prophecies in with when each king ruled; etc.  I learned so much using this plan and came to a fuller understanding of how things all fit together.  I also loved reading the New Testament this way as it puts the Gospel accounts of each event all together and then fits in the epistles with Acts and where each person was.  

2021 - Biblical Storyline Plan - Last year I read the Old Testament in the traditional Jewish/Hebrew order which follows the Torah, Tanakh and then moved to the New Testament.  The Tanakh groups the Old Testament books together a bit differently than our English Bibles but it wasn't all that different to read it this way.

2022 - One Year Bible Plan - This year I'm once again reading through the Bible with a group.  We are following the One Year Bible plan. Along with this YouVersion plan several of us are using a devotional by Nancy Guthrie titled Praying through the Bible for Your Kids.  This devotional uses the daily reading from the One Year Bible plan and applies those truths to parenting.  At the end of each devotional is a prayer for your kids.  

So that is what I'm doing this year.  What reading plans or devotionals are you digging into this year?  If you don't have one planned yet I'd encourage you to start one. It doesn't matter that it's not January 1st, what matters is that each day we are filling our minds with the truth of Scripture.  One last thought, that's a bit unrelated but still really important.  As I was reading about Jesus' baptism today I remembered something I heard on a podcast (can't remember which one).  At the baptism of Jesus we see all three Persons of the Trinity; Jesus baptized, the Spirit as a Dove and the voice of the Father.  Praying is a time when we are fully engaging with those three Persons at the same time.  The Holy Spirit helps us to know what to pray (Romans 8:26), we pray through the access we have in Jesus name to the Father.  Do not neglect the Scriptures or prayer; they are both priceless gifts from a Loving Father.