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sisrev -> RE: Faithful in a little (9/16/2008 11:21:02 AM)
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I tend to be an all or nothing person when it comes to my housework. Other things, too, but in the house it really shows. I actually do like things to be clean, and orderly, and beautiful. I also tend to procrastinate, and put things off until there is so much to do that I get overwhelmed, don’t know where to start, and ignore it even more, hoping that a fairy godmother will just come along and work her magic wand, and “poof!”, it’ll be done. (doesn’t work right without the sound effect, you really do have to have the “poof!”)
Well, guess what I've discovered? There is no fairy godmother, no magic wand, and no “poof!” The terrible, awful, really horrible truth is, I am my own fairy godmother. And my wand doesn’t seem to work anymore. Which means I have to do it myself.
I find, though, that each room or system in my house has a certain key element, a certain little something, that if I take care if it first, the other things will begin to fall into place. In the bedroom, it’s making the bed. I hate to admit how seldom I do that at times. I go through phases of doing it regularly, then I go through phases where the only time the bed gets made is when I change the sheets. I do find, though, that if I make the bed, I will automatically pick up a little more around it as I go through the day. Today, for instance, I folded & hung some clothes, and started to leave the folded ones on the bed--but they looked so out of place on that made-up bed, that I took the additional seconds it took to open the dresser drawer and put the clothes inside.(Other wise, they would have stayed there till bedtime, at which time I would have grabbed them off the bed and sat them on top of the dresser instead of inside, where they probably would have stayed—unless they got knocked off, then they’d be unfolded, on the floor, and I probably would have just re-washed them and started the same vicious cycle all over again.
And speaking of laundry, if I once get it all caught up, I can manage on one load a day, rotating through lights, darks, whites, and jeans, then repeating. But if I don't keep up, the next thing I know I have 10 loads! So then I have to do 2 or 3 a day (or more!) till I get caught up, then start my regular cycle again.
In the kitchen, it’s starting off with a clean kitchen, cleaning as I go, and doing the major cleanup immediately after dinner. If I think to myself that I’ll go into the living room and clean the kitchen, later the next thing I know, I’m ready to go to bed and the kitchen is a mess. Then againg, I don't know how many times I’ve started to clean the kitchen up after dinner, only to find that I have to empty the dishwasher of clean dishes first, so that I can load it back up with the dirty ones. But if the dishwasher is emptied in the mornings, I will load it throughout the day as things get dirty; and if the kitchen is clean when I start dinner, I will wash things as I go as I make dinner, instead of stacking it all until afterwards. Then after dinner there isn't so much to do to get things cleaned up. So the trick , again, is to do the little things that make the big things go so easily.
This afternoon I went through the living room, picking up, straightening, and putting away all of those myriad of things that tend to get laid down instead of being put away someplace. Mail, receipts, books, magazines, shoes. Then a quick vacuum of the main traffic areas, and all was well. Sometimes the clutter starts because there is no particular place to put things, but most of the time it’s because I plan to put something down “for now”, and take care of it later, only “later” never gets here. It kind of reminds me of the old commercial where the guy comes into a service station over and over and won’t stop to have the oil checked & changed in his car because it costs too much, then in the last scene, his car is being towed back to the service station while the voice over says, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later!” I can do it now, or I can do it later, but eventually I will have to do it.
So, here is my "resolve" list--Every day, I will:
Make the bed
Empty the dishwasher
Do one load of laundry, start to finish (including folding/hanging & putting away)
Clean the kitchen as I go, and finish up immediately after dinner if possible
Do a quick pick-up of one room every day
It’s amazing what a difference these little things can make.
(segue to the spiritual stuff)
It’s often the little things in my spiritual life that make all of the difference, as well. The Lord is always faithful, but at times I’m my own worst enemy, and it’s all I can do to stay out of the way, much less walk in the way! I find that if I take care of things as I go—staying in the Word, spending time in prayer, being obedient to those things that the Lord as asked of me—If I stay ‘fessed up, I don’t get messed up!
So, off I go, to learn (again) to be faithful in the little things…
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