Sunday, April 15, 2018



Do you struggle with keeping up with your house?

In all my married life, that has been the biggest, ongoing challenge I face.

(If you have read my April blog from last year, you have seen proof.)

About 2-3 years ago, I found a Pinterest link about 5 things to do to keep your house clean. I read it and it made so much sense!  I don't remember the chit chat (like I am doing here) and sadly I do not have a link for that original post.  I wrote the points down, and NEVER dreamed I would want to blog about them.  I have tried to follow those 5 and then I added 2 of my own.

My house is NOT spotless BUT following those 7 points gives me a daily goal to shoot for. I will continue to search for the link and if I find it, I will give credit where credit is due. Without further chit chat here goes.

  1. Have a meaningful quiet time. ( I think I added this one)
    I absolutely LOVE, LOVE ,LOVE   The Bible App Youversion by Lifechurch
    (it is an app, but this is the link to the computer site)
    The 2 plans I am following this year are:                                                                                             the One Year Chronological Bible and                                                                                           Bible In One Year 2018.
    Both of these plans, as does the  Bible (app) itself, have a feature where the Bible can be read to you!  This was revolutionary for me!  I can listen.  My heart has been convicted over things I have read time and again, that listening to, have hit me hard.broken as things from Scripture have hit me hard.  (Truth be told, I am up to date on the Chronological Bible.  I really like the devotional part of the Bible in One Year 2018, but that part is not available in audio on the app. I also like the fact that this plan doesn't go on or mark as finished until you list something that spoke to you.  Sadly, the not reading to me part, is what lead to my demise with this plan.)
  2.  Dress for the day you want, Not the day that is trying to have you. (I did search for this phrase, and several blogs came up, but not the one with my starter list.)This phrase makes sense, unless it is winter and you live in the North and want to be a mermaid.    When you dress for a successfully day, you feel better about yourself and sometimes, sometimes THAT attitude can be all that you need to change a ho hum into a great day.
  3. Make your bed. I listed this after getting dressed because it gives the mattress and sheets time to air out. I am not sure if that really matters, but it was THE way to do things back in the 1950s. Order may not matter, but I like to listen, dress and then make the bed.
  4. Plan your day.  I love a list. I love the satisfaction of crossing things off the list. I will write things on the list that I have already done, just to cross them off.  I am more productive when I have a list of what I am trying to do and what I need to do.
  5. Do one load of laundry - wash, dry, fold AND away.                           When I first read this, it seemed like an insurmountable task.  Laundry was something I was forever behind on, and had mountains and mountains to do.  I decided to give it a try. I started on a Monday and the clothing we needed worst that day, was the undergarments and pjs. I made it a point to get all of that washed, dried, folded and put away.  I tried to do the other loads, one or two a day.  T shirts in one load.  Office/church clothing in another.  Blue Jeans might be their own load, or get added to the Ts.  Towels are a load, as are sheets. (I try to group things by dirt level, weight of the garment- an office shirt weighs less than a towel, and then by color.) When Monday came again, I made sure to wash undergarments and pjs. As before, I tried to do all the steps. In all honesty, I don't follow this rule 100% but I do try to follow it, wash, dry, fold and away. On many days the load started today is actually put away tomorrow, but just having the goal to deal with one load, just one from start to finish today helps!  Before too long, my laundry appeared to be less, and it is DEFINITELY easier to keep up with.  My clean laundry may still pile, but it is usually only one or two loads, not a mountain of clean clothing and my dirty laundry isn't as ginormous a pile either. One load a day really does make a difference.
  6.   Keep up with the kitchen. Unless you eat out often, the kitchen is the heart of the home.  The heart of where much of the mess can originate.  Even if you eat boxed cereal and only really cook 1 meal a day, even if you have a dishwasher, unless you have a maid, your kitchen needs to stay neat, and it will require your attention to stay kept up.  One thing that should be done daily is wiping the counters.  If you are wiping the counter, that means the counter is clear.
  7. The final item on the list is: Do something for you- something  fun or relaxing!  This may not seem important, but you do need to at least plan something as little as polishing your nails, coloring a page, writing a journal entry, crocheting a scarf or reading a book.  

    I can't promise you a spotless house if you follow these guidelines, but I can promise you that following these guidelines will see you on your way to a much smoother day and quite possibly a neater house along the way.