Day 15: Clean Something
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We're half way through our 31 Days to Hallway Praise challenge!
I've mentioned before that I'm a terrible housekeeper. I don't know why I didn't inherit my mom's cleaning gene, but I didn't. Sometimes cleaning feels overwhelming (probably because I go way too long in between cleaning sessions); other times, I have non-cleaning related chores I'd much rather be doing. Whatever the reason, my house is often a mess, to the point that it becomes depressing.
Thankfully, through a lot of prayer, determination, and help from Jon and the spark plugs, I'm slowly overcoming my allergy to cleaning. Our home is no longer a complete disaster all the time. There are moments during the day when the dishes are all in the dishwasher and the sink is shiny. At times the carpet is vacuumed and the floors are swept. While I will never have a spick-and-span home, more often than not, nowadays our house is within 15-20 minutes of being company-acceptable.
And I've noticed something about myself that has a direct correlation between my disposition and my cleaner home: I'm much less stressed during the day. When my environment is tidy, I feel calmer.
Because of this, today's assignment is to clean something.
You don't have to clean your whole house (unless you want to and have time). You don't have to deep clean the bathroom or kitchen (a simple wipe-down of surfaces will suffice just fine!). But I do want you to pick one item or spot to clean today. Choose something that will have a big impact but that won't take a ton of time or make you frustrated in the process. Some ideas:
- Clear and wipe down the counters in the kitchen
- Get the homework and dirty dishes off of the dining table (bonus points for wiping up the crumbs and spilled milk)
- Vacuum the living room and/or hallways
- Sweep the kitchen (it's okay to sweep around the dining chairs instead of removing them first)
- Collect all visible paper clutter into one contained spot to deal with later
- Organize all of the shoes in the mud/laundry room, tossing out any pairs that are too worn (and passing on anything that's been outgrown)
Cleaning won't make you more spiritual. It won't bring an end to your hallway. But it can help improve your mood and give you a little something to find joy in. Not only that, but because we Christian women are called to be homemakers (see Titus 2:5), cleaning our homes (even just a small part of them) is something that honors the Lord. There is great satisfaction in knowing that we're doing what He's called us to do even when we're waiting for the hallway to end.
Today's action steps: Choose an area to clean, preferably something that can be done in 15 minutes or less but that will have an impact on our daily routines (like clearing the kitchen counters or getting all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher). Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and challenge yourself to see how much you can accomplish in that time. You might surprise yourself with how far a few concentrated minutes can get you!
