Sometimes, A Virtuous Woman Doesn't Clean

• Who is like the virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

One of the things that I really like about the way Crystal from Money Cleaning Mom is organizing the 30-Day House Cleaning Challenge, is the way she takes the tasks that would  normally fall on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and combines them into one challenge for Friday, so that you can choose to do one or all three of the challenges on Friday, leaving your weekend free.  This Friday the choices were to clean out a closet, surface clean an extra room, and deep clean a bedroom. 

I had looked ahead on the cleaning list, and had decided since I'd made such tremendous strides on my bedroom already this week, work on deep cleaning my bedroom with my husband's help to move the mattress and box springs and clean under and around the bed, the windows and blinds, etc, and to work on my closet a little more. 

Fast forward to Friday, which unexpectedly turned into my husband's only day off, not only for this, week, but for the next two weeks.  So, I did what any virtuous woman would do.   You know the verses from Proverbs 31, don't you?  "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life."  So I spent the day with him. Or actually, he spent the day with me.  He gave up his plans, too, and went grocery shopping with me, carried everything inside, and helped put it all away, too.  We visited my parents for awhile, and just had a nice, quiet day together. 

Saturday, I did something with my son.  He has an event coming up, and because he's lost a tremendous amount of weight, none of his dressy clothes fit anymore.  We made a trip to the "big city" (not that big, as cities go, but much bigger than our small town) with his sports jacket and a couple of really nice pairs of pants to see if they could be altered to fit. And when the tailor told us there was no way they could be downsized that much, this mama proudly bought him a new jacket and pants. I don't care how grown they are, even sons need mama's input and guidance sometimes.  He buys his own clothes most of the time, but mama is still allowed to do something special every now and then. "Her children arise up, and call her blessed".  He may not use those words, but I see it in his eyes, and in his smile.   

And today, Sunday, I usually reserve for church and church- or family-related activities.  But I've been nursing a head cold for several days, and it decided to jump up and down on me and pound me to oblivion.  I cut my trip to the city short yesterday after taking care of what needed doing, skipping any extra fun stops, and came home and tried to nurse myself back to health.  Alas, no church for me today, and I assure you, I never miss church.  "She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms".  I may not be strengthening my arms, but I hope I'm strengthening my immune system. 

Since I've been participating in the 30-Day Cleaning Challenge at Money Saving Mom, I've seen a tremendous difference in the state of my house, and that has contributed to an improvement in the state of my family, as well.  The first couple of days, I was probably the only one who noticed what I was doing, especially since the first week was a bit sporadic for me.  But working on it consistently, day after day, has inspired all of us to pick up after ourselves a little more.  I've gotten back into the habit of making my bed every day, and giving the bathroom it's daily "swish and swipe", of picking up the living room every couple of days or so, partly because I don't want to un-do what I've worked so hard to get done, but also just to keep things looking good.  "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness"  And because of that, "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." My family is really glad at the state of the house these days. 

But the best part is "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." I'm hoping to feel well enough tomorrw to complete the challenge task, but even if I don't, just seeing the improvement so far, and how much if's effected my mood and that of my family, I'll be happy at the time and effort I've put in, and will continue to put in. 

If you want to see the results that some of the other participating bloggers have had, be sure to click over to Money Saving Mom and click on some of the linkies there. 

This post is also linked to:

Make My Home Sing Monday at Moms the Word

Monday Meet Up at Covered In Grace

Matrimonial Monday at Exceptionalistic

Until next time...

To see other posts in this series, click on Clean in 30