As the days are lengthening and retailers are displaying gardening supplies and clothing catalogs announce their “new arrivals,” I am reminded that spring is the time to put aside the “sheltering in” aspects of winter and focus on how to refresh my home to make it a “prepared place” for all who enter in the days to come. I also acknowledge that if I want my home to be a “prepared place” I will need a “Spring Cleaning Strategy” that begins with my heart and then motivates the completion of specific tasks.
My first step is to turn to John 14:2-3 and deal with my heart. The passage teaches me that my heavenly Father is preparing a place in heaven for me—I have a reservation! Matthew 5:13-16 challenges me to make my life and home “as a city set on a hill which cannot be hid.” If I am going to apply the teachings of John 14:2-3 and Matthew 5:13-16 to my “Spring Cleaning Strategy”, I must acknowledge that my home is to be the earthly model of the heavenly pattern. Contemplating the following questions can assist me in creating a “Spiritual Spring Cleaning Strategy” so that my heart is prepared for the physical spring cleaning tasks. Will you join me in responding to them?
Do I
understand the strategic position of my home? (Matt. 5:13-16)
cultivate a home that emanates a welcoming ambience? (Prov. 31:27)
make certain that cultivating the attributes of a prepared place are at the top of my “Spring Cleaning Strategy”? (Prov. 14:1)
select my tasks so that my home is an earthly model of the heavenly pattern? (John 14:2-3)
choose to see beyond the imperfections of those residing in my home just as I ignore the “white noise*” it contains? (Phil. 4:8-9).
acknowledge that my attitude sets the tone for my home? (Prov. 4: 20-27)
believe that the spiritually happy woman is characterized by the consistent meditation upon and internalization of God’s Word? (Ps. 1:2)
eagerly embrace the instructions to practice biblical hospitality? (Rom. 12:13b, 1 Tim. 3:1-2, Titus 1:7-8, Heb. 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9)
cultivate the heart of a Christian hostess? (Heb. 13:2)
The season of Lent begins on March 2. During the forty days between March 2 and Easter Sunday consider adding to your “Spring Cleaning Strategy” the removal of one item from your home which you do not use or wear each day. Place the items in a box or bag and after Easter donate it to a local charity. This strategy has a double blessing—it contributes to your “Spring Cleaning Strategy” as well as blessing others. I am confident that you will find the strategies, supported by personal application, contained in Kelsey’s Korner valuable.
KELSEY’S KORNER
I have exciting news…my garage is organized!! In the 2 1/2 years since we’ve lived in our home we have made many (failed) attempts to clean the garage. We begin to organize but quickly become overwhelmed when we run out of places to store items. After each attempt, the garage slowly maneuvers its way back to a cluttered eyesore, all because we have never had a good organizational system in place. Well, we owe a recent snowstorm and COVID exposure for the time to finally get the job done right! Forced to stay home, my husband and I took shifts watching our son and hacking away at a number of organizational projects that have been collecting dust on the to-do lists. We accomplished a lot. Our coat closet officially has a coat rod, our pantry and kitchen cabinets were purged and organized, and, of course, we finally cleaned the garage!
As we were thinking through how to best organize our home to make it a more functional and inviting space, three objectives shaped our thinking:
Look Past the “White Noise*”
I think we all do this from time to time—we set something down where it does not belong, resume life and forget about the item. That object becomes “White Noise.” We walk past it 30 times a day and glance right over it, our brains failing to recognize the item as out-of-place. Because this sometimes happens, I find it helpful to occasionally walk around my house and take everything in as if with a fresh pair of eyes (try to see what a new guest in your home may see). What is disorderly or out of place? Is there anything that could be stored in a better place?
During our recent “stay-cation,” I decided to view my home this way and realized how disorganized and cluttered my kitchen had become! To remedy this, I ended up selling two pieces of clunky furniture and purchasing a sleek, more functional item in their stead. The kitchen looks bigger, cleaner, and is definitely more functional now!
Organize with a Future Focused Mindset
Close your eyes and picture your life one, two, five years from now. Are there any changes that you know are coming your way? I find it helpful to organize with those events in mind. For me, I know our collection of kiddie cups and plates will only be growing, so purging and reorganizing our cupboards became top-priority! I spent much of my time researching and implementing new organizational strategies to make the best use of our small space. My favorite change? I bought baskets for Tupperware and cup lids for inside the cupboards. I highly recommend them!
Seek to Make Life Easier and More Functional
Disorganization is only easy in the moment, never in day-to-day life. It’s quick and painless to shove something in a drawer or cabinet, but then when you actually need the scissors or the matching Tupperware lid, disorganization is the enemy of time!
Due to our ever-expanding collection of yogurt melts, carrot purée, and other baby foods, it became time to reorganize the pantry. We purchased this pantry organizer that added significantly more space and functionality to our pantry and gave our son’s snacks a “home.”
Life is busy, sometimes stressful and frequently filled with hard work. Often it feels like organizing is a waste of precious time and energy! But remember, Christ is with the Father now preparing a place for you in His kingdom (John 14:2)! If preparing a home for you is a priority of our Lord, then creating a prepared and welcoming earthly home for our families should be a priority for us as well. So as you prepare, remember, we strive not for perfection but reflection. Organize and prepare your home in such a way that when family and guests are there, they catch a reflection (no matter how small!) of our perfectly prepared heavenly home.
THE EVERYDAY HOMEMAKER’S MONTHLY MEDITATION THOUGHT
God’s Word states, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)
Therefore, I may boldly say, “through the Lord’s strength I will choose to make my home a prepared place for all who enter it!”
You might enjoy other of our Home related Posts:
“Spring Cleaning the Heart and the Home”
“To Minimize or Hoard, That is the Question”
“Are You Practicing Compassionate Hospitality During the COVID-19 Pandemic?“
“Do You Have the Heart of a Christian Hostess?“
“Is Cleanliness Really Next to Godliness?”
Blessings on your day as you focus on making your house a home!