- Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
- She looketh well to the ways of her household
- She eateth not the bread of idleness
Today is Day 26 of the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, and since most everyone takes the weekend off, or of posting about it on the weekends, anyway, we could choose from surface cleaning bathrooms, bedrooms, or doing floors again.
Since we just did the floors earlier this week, and I'm pretty much keeping the bedroom and bathroom clean with my daily routine, I didn't do too much today except just that--my daily routine.
So, no pictures of "before" and "after", but a few thoughts.
I've had such a good time doing this challenge; not only has it motivated me to get (and keep!) my house cleaned up, I've enjoyed clicking over to Crystal's posts on Money Saving Mom and seeing not just what she's accomplished, but the other ladies who are participating, as well.
It's fun to see everyone's house from an "inside" perspective, to ask (or see someone else ask) questions like "How do you keep your counter tops cleaned off all the time?" and "Where do you keep your food?" as well as "What can I do to clean my oven safely?" and "What do ya'll do about kids chores?"
It's been fun, and it's been refreshing, too, to see where other people struggle--or to glean ideas about organization from seeing how someone else does it.
It's also opened my eyes to some areas of mine that I've been overlooking--now that the surfaces are staying pretty well cleaned, I'm noticing the detailed, deeper cleaning that I've neglected for so long. And then there's nothing like taking and editing pictures to make you say "Is that what those curtains really look like? What was I thinking?"
It's also easy to see those who have a big, nice kitchen, or who have all of the storage space that you don't have, or all of the latest gadgets, or a home that's beautifully decorated when yours is sort of--not.
I have to tell you ladies, I live in a older house, built in 1962. (I say it's too old to be new, but not old enough to be interesting.) I have a small kitchen--the room is big, but the kitchen itself is small, if that makes sense, with very limited counter space. I have a tiny little living room, and only one bathroom. We made some cosmetic changes when we moved in sixteen years ago, but not much as been touched since.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is--I like my little home, but it's not my dream house. There are a lot of things I'd change about it if I could, some of which may happen in the future, some, probably not.
But I'm so much happier with it when it's clean, and not so cluttered, and organized. I still have some areas to work on, that's for sure. But I look around, and I see the overall orderliness that's spreading, slowly but surely, and I smile.
And I remember that it's paid for, and I smile again.
And I look at those curtains, and I think--you're time is coming!
"But godliness with contentment is great gain...and having food and raiment let us be therewith content."
1 Timothy 6: 6 & 8
I have so much more than just food and clothing--I want to find that proper balance between being inspired to make improvements, while being content with what I have.
Sounds like the quality of a Virtuous Woman to me.
Until next time...
This post is linked to:
Making Your Home Sing Monday at Moms the Word
Monday's Musings at What Joy is Mine
It's amazing how little effort it takes to keep a home clean once we have it cleaned up and organized. I do the same thing, let it go for a while, then do a massive clean up and I often wonder why I just didn't take care of little things before they became big messes. Guess it's just human nature. Does anyone live in their dream home? Ha!
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that if the house is clean it stays clean, and once it starts to get dirty--suddenly it goes to pigpen status practicaly overnight!
DeleteI keep remind myself every month that we don't have a mortgage payment that it may not be my dream house, but at least it's MY house--not mine & the banks!
I also love seeing how everyone else does things! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a blessing to not have a mortgage payment! We don't have any debt but we still have our mortgage, although we are working on that.
Many years ago, after our eldest was born we lived in a little cottage home. It had an unfinished basement and so we lived on the main floor. It had two bedrooms, one bath, and a living/dining room and a kitchen.
I once visited a gal who lived in a split level home and she was giving people a tour but apologizing for her home. I was like, "Are you kidding me?????? This is a palace!"
She didn't know how blessed she was. Our home is twice the size of that little cottage. We are now stuffed in it because my mom moved in with us after my dad died, and we had to make room for her.
Then our eldest son moved back from college (with more stuff) and we had to make more room for his stuff, lol!
But I am trying to cherish these moments even though I get frustrated with everyone's STUFF, lol! Our son is getting married and moving out in the fall and my mom is 89 and so she won't be with us forever.
Thanks for linking up to the "Making Your Home Sing Monday" linky party today! :)
That's one thing I've realized with the cleaning challenge--it would be so much easier without so much "stuff", for sure! Can't complain, though, it's all a result of being blessed, initially, though some of it can be "blessed" to others now, or else has out-lived it's usefulness to us. All the more reason to do the Clutter-Busting challenge in May to try to get rid of some of the excess!
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