A Clean House!

I love having a clean house. This is probably thanks to my Mom. My Mom always had our house looking so nice. From a young age James and I had chores that we were supposed to do to help out around the house. I remember my first "bathroom cleaning lesson" almost every time I clean my bathrooms now. At the time I thought my Mom was being too picky about how it was done, but now I appreciate why she had my clean so thoroughly. I can also remember dusting but not picking up the doilies or other pretty things sitting out, but dusting around them, and then having my Mom ask me if I picked things up. I could never figure out how she knew, other than she really does have eyes in the back of her head. Now I realize that its obvious if you take the easy way out.

As I was cleaning today while Micah was taking an amazing nap (yes, over 2 hours, crazy what you can accomplish in that amount of time!) I was thinking about how much I appreciate things being clean and in their place. Now I will be the first to admit I have a "paper problem." It's always piling up on my counter, just when I think I've conquered the clutter more always reappears. The other thing I thought about was how frustrating it is that you have to continuously clean. Wouldn't it be nice if you cleaned the bathroom and didn't have to think about it again for 3 months? It seems like cleaning is a never ending battle that I often now do piece by interrupted piece (don't get me wrong, I love my little man, interruptions and all and wouldn't trade these precious moments for a spot free house :) I think it would be great if you could be on a seasonal cleaning rotation of floors one season, dusting the next, bathrooms, and kitchen. I would have more time to do fun things and maybe get more adventurous with my cooking. But for now I'll try to clean my bathrooms at least once every 2 weeks, vacuum every couple of days (being Micah is now in the pick up everything that's on the floor stage), and dust once a month if I'm lucky, or having company! We also have hard wood now in our new apartment so it's crazy how dirty the floors are - people don't be deceived about what's hiding in your carpet!

As I was pondering my quarterly cleaning/seems like things never stay clean I was thinking about how the Lord cleans my heart. I'm so grateful that He doesn't get tired of my "dirty" heart and that He hasn't pondered how to cheat on the cleaning schedule, and that He takes delight in my life as messy as it may be at times. I love the God doesn't cut corners to keep my heart clean. That his grace and forgiveness is new every day, every moment. 

I'll continue to clean, don't worry Micah will live in a clean house and he'll eventually get cleaning lessons as well. I pray that I would take time to remember how the Lord cleans my heart as I get to serve our family by cleaning!

Here's Micah amidst his toys - but I'm ok with this clutter, don't worry :)