Wow! I know I seem like I'm playing catch up. Truth is I've been reading and following the steps in 31 Days to Clean but have found NO time to blog, as I've also been back to work this week! Yea! So one giant blog is going to have to do, and I'm going to have to train myself to be ok with that as being a type A person, I feel like I've let myself down for not blogging each day.
The first day this week was Day 8 Overcoming the Curse. How do we do that. I think the key is to figure out why we are doing something. I know I keep going back to those silly lunches I hate to pack, but why am I packing them? When I switch my focus to the kids, and my love for them I suddenly think about the importance of them and not the task at hand. We can use this time of challenge in repeating tasks to seek God and realize what He has for us each day. In James we are told to consider it pure joy when we face trials of any kind. So from now on I'm going to try and look for the joy in the laundry, dishes and the silly lunches. It may be the joy of being able to provide clothes for the family and food to eat, or it may go deeper. I'm sure it will depend on the day and the way the rest of the week is going, but that is the plan.
Mary Challenge: Think back to a time when God refined your character through difficult circumstances. One time comes to mind instantly and I am choosing not to write it down for privacy reasons. But God really taught me to be consistent in who I am for Him. When I do that others will see my true character.
Martha Challenge: clean out and organize the kitchen drawers. Yea for me, did that when I did the cupboards!
Day 9 Confronting Laziness
Too tired, too busy, too crazy I think should have been added to that too. It is really hard to be motivated to get anything done when we are too busy to get the whole job done. There are just not enough hours in some days. Just the same God wanted this many hours so there must be enough to get done what should be done today. The problem is our lack of purpose, self control and motivation. Where am I in the struggle of these problems. Usually I have a purpose, but sometimes if I haven't looked at my list in a while, or gone through and made a new list for those extra things I need to do, I can easily do a bit of this and a bit of that and never really get anything completely accomplished. For me it's about making the list and then training myself to be ok with only getting a few things done. Some tasks take longer then others, and if they got accomplished it's one less thing to do tomorrow, and one less thing is ONE LESS THING.
Self control is a hard one. We have so much technology pulling on us every day. I'll just check FB, twitter and my email, but then I've lost a few hours of time! So, make a plan and try to stick to it. Only check what you can in 5 minutes every hour, or after a task is completed allow yourself some time. Guess what, the world will not self destruct if you didn't check FB or Twitter today!
Managing our time is a self control issue, but so is getting to a point in your day where you decide I'm not getting anything done so I might as well get nothing else done. We need to be persistent in seeking our goal. Some days we might trudge along, but overall we need to keep moving forward. Satan likes to tell us we'll never get anything accomplished, and on days like that we need to look back and take 5 minutes to write down everything we have done in that day. Very rarely do we get truly nothing done.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans. Amen! Do it for a reason, and do the job well the first time. Even if it means getting a little less done, do it right. BUT don't go to the extreme and demand absolute perfection. Doing the best you can is all that should be asked of you.
Mary Challenge: Anytime you say "I will do it later" stop and pray to God for diligence then go to work. Love it, now need to do it!
Martha Challenge: Sweep, vacuum and mop kitchen floors and add some flowers to brighten the day. Oops, it's day 12+ weekend and I need to still do this!
Day 10 Feeling Overwhelmed (oh how we can relate to this one!)
Sometimes it seems like we just finished something an have to start again. I agree with Sarah Mae in 31 Days to Clean, when the house is a mess start in one area and work until that area is done before you move on. Then you can feel a sense of accomplishment. This works with purging too. Do one room at a time, and then at the end of every day just walk through the completed rooms and quickly pick anything up that is in the wrong place. Lots less to do when you've gone through a room thoroughly to begin with.
One of my favorite books of all times that I still refer back to often is The 15 Minute Organizer by Emilee Barnes. Great tip, and usually we can find 15 minutes to do something.
Mary Challenge: Light a candle and consider your home and what you want it to be, and then talk to God about where you are and what you need help with.
Martha Challenge: Living Room - clean window treatments and wash the inside of the windows. Still need to do this too : ) but it is now on the list!
Day 11 Limitations (Life is Hard)
I love the Mother in law game idea! 15 minutes before someone is due to come over what would you clean! Go...for me it would be straighten every room and wipe up the baths. Some things would just need to not be done.
I also really agree with Sarah Mae, sometimes life is hard. Days don't always go as planned. As a very type A organized person I've had to learn to go with the flow. Decide what has to get done no matter what and what can wait. Usually, if you really look at the list, it all could wait if it had to with no guilt. Letting go and letting God's grace be enough for today is not easy, but it is sometimes the best place to be at.
Mary Challenge: His grace is sufficient! AMEN!
Martha Challenge: wash the walls and ceilings...ummm have you seen my walls and ceilings in my living room? I'll have to think on that one, or find a really big ladder!
Day 12: The think We all Have in Common-Imperfection
Love this quote "when you aim for perfection you discover it's a moving target" George Fisher.
Should we try, absolutely, but if we miss we need to just keep going.
Like this whole challenge thing. I wish I could say everything was done on the right day and all jobs were done because that would make me feel so good, but...truth is I worked this week on top of dealing with hockey stuff, gymnastics stuff, pta stuff and family stuff so... this did not get done and you know what. That is OK. I'll do the best I can and keep on moving on.
Mary Challenge: Think on areas in your life where you are striving to be perfect, then give theses areas to God.
Martha Challenge: Living room- clean and organize shelves and electronics. Shine wood furniture. Also on the list!
Managing our time is a self control issue, but so is getting to a point in your day where you decide I'm not getting anything done so I might as well get nothing else done. We need to be persistent in seeking our goal. Some days we might trudge along, but overall we need to keep moving forward. Satan likes to tell us we'll never get anything accomplished, and on days like that we need to look back and take 5 minutes to write down everything we have done in that day. Very rarely do we get truly nothing done.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans. Amen! Do it for a reason, and do the job well the first time. Even if it means getting a little less done, do it right. BUT don't go to the extreme and demand absolute perfection. Doing the best you can is all that should be asked of you.
Mary Challenge: Anytime you say "I will do it later" stop and pray to God for diligence then go to work. Love it, now need to do it!
Martha Challenge: Sweep, vacuum and mop kitchen floors and add some flowers to brighten the day. Oops, it's day 12+ weekend and I need to still do this!
Day 10 Feeling Overwhelmed (oh how we can relate to this one!)
Sometimes it seems like we just finished something an have to start again. I agree with Sarah Mae in 31 Days to Clean, when the house is a mess start in one area and work until that area is done before you move on. Then you can feel a sense of accomplishment. This works with purging too. Do one room at a time, and then at the end of every day just walk through the completed rooms and quickly pick anything up that is in the wrong place. Lots less to do when you've gone through a room thoroughly to begin with.
One of my favorite books of all times that I still refer back to often is The 15 Minute Organizer by Emilee Barnes. Great tip, and usually we can find 15 minutes to do something.
Mary Challenge: Light a candle and consider your home and what you want it to be, and then talk to God about where you are and what you need help with.
Martha Challenge: Living Room - clean window treatments and wash the inside of the windows. Still need to do this too : ) but it is now on the list!
Day 11 Limitations (Life is Hard)
I love the Mother in law game idea! 15 minutes before someone is due to come over what would you clean! Go...for me it would be straighten every room and wipe up the baths. Some things would just need to not be done.
I also really agree with Sarah Mae, sometimes life is hard. Days don't always go as planned. As a very type A organized person I've had to learn to go with the flow. Decide what has to get done no matter what and what can wait. Usually, if you really look at the list, it all could wait if it had to with no guilt. Letting go and letting God's grace be enough for today is not easy, but it is sometimes the best place to be at.
Mary Challenge: His grace is sufficient! AMEN!
Martha Challenge: wash the walls and ceilings...ummm have you seen my walls and ceilings in my living room? I'll have to think on that one, or find a really big ladder!
Day 12: The think We all Have in Common-Imperfection
Love this quote "when you aim for perfection you discover it's a moving target" George Fisher.
Should we try, absolutely, but if we miss we need to just keep going.
Like this whole challenge thing. I wish I could say everything was done on the right day and all jobs were done because that would make me feel so good, but...truth is I worked this week on top of dealing with hockey stuff, gymnastics stuff, pta stuff and family stuff so... this did not get done and you know what. That is OK. I'll do the best I can and keep on moving on.
Mary Challenge: Think on areas in your life where you are striving to be perfect, then give theses areas to God.
Martha Challenge: Living room- clean and organize shelves and electronics. Shine wood furniture. Also on the list!
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