May 7, 2009

• Keeping House… step by step

  I didn’t really know how to ‘keep house‘ when I married.  My precious parents gave us daily chores but putting it all together to keep a home did not come easy for me.  I tried different housekeeping schedules over the years but never landed on one that worked for me until I found FLYLADY.  (Actually, it was a routine similar to FLYLADY but I now use FLYLADY’S routine)

  I don’t follow her routine perfectly. Some weeks I only get the HOUSEBLESSING finished. But, overall, the FLYLADY method helps me stay on top of the basic jobs in my home.  I basically do the HOUSEBLESSING at the beginning of the week which takes me about 1 hour.   I then work 15-30 minutes  daily in the ZONE assigned for that week.  FLYLADY posts the ZONES at the beginning of each week. A zone is the room that you are going to organize or deep clean!  Remember, though, it’s only for 15-30 minutes a day.  This week the zone work is in the kitchen.

  So, as I’m puttering in the kitchen during meals I’ll take special note of anything that needs to be cleaned. This week I have washed my kitchen rugs, mopped the floor, wiped down the window blinds and washed all the counter tops along with the front of the kitchen cabinets.   I still hope to wipe down the fridge and polish the stainless steal and clean the oven.  

   I prayed for many years that God would teach me how to keep an orderly home.  It didn’t happen in one day, one month or even one year. In fact, I continue to learn new skills every year.   I couldn’t see it at the time but God was teaching me … small things.. step by step. I remember choosing one skill to work on at a time. One time, in particular, I focused on changing the habit of not making my bed daily. I heard someone say to match an undisciplined habit with an established habit. So, I decided to not leave the bedroom after dressing until my bed was made.  Somehow I never found the time to go back and make it once I had left the room. Making that one small change made a big difference and helped to establish a good habit that helped in my overall housekeeping routine.

                                                                            

  I have found in my Christian walk, more times than not, that habits don’t always change overnight. Some do.. but  for a myriad of reasons some take more time.  That doesn’t relieve me of the responsibility to obey God daily if there is sin involved.  But, it does help to remember that sanctification is a process and if I do my best and trust that God is working out His best……then I find hope that a bad habit (or sin) will eventually be changed into a good (or godly) habit.

  • 10:23 pm
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