Thursday, January 04, 2007

Peace

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

I love this time of year. It's so quiet for me. We don't have any big plans or places to go or shopping to get done. No big meals to prepare for or events to plan. It's just quiet. I think there's a very good reason the first of the year is the time for resolutions. People have time to think and reflect and change things if they want to. For me, I am trying really hard to maintain a more comfortable home. Usually I clean the house one or maybe two days a week, and then I let it go the rest of the week. By Saturday it's in full disarray, and we spend part of Saturday and Sunday cleaning up and getting the house ready for our small group to gather. It's just unpleasant, and most often I really enjoy the weeks we cancel our group. Or Andy will want to have the guys over for movies or football, and I will beg him not to because I don't want to clean the house. So I've been praying on this. And I'm beginning to see results.

I've asked God to help me be more efficient. There are days where I work so hard at something and am exhausted by early afternoon, and then I drag the rest of the day. Or there are also days where I have a hard time being motivated, and instead, I spend the day with Zander in front of the TV or computer while I spend time online or reading a book. So this past weekend I started moving things around in my house. I put all the Christmas decorations away, because as long as they were out, I had this looming sense of needing to do something. And then I proceeded to clean. I sparkled up my house and rearranged some furniture, and right now, a clean and organized kitchen and dining area is a lovely sight to behold. Every morning, after I spend time with God I do my blogging- usually this one first. Then I get to work on cleaning up, and because it's already had a deep cleaning, I'm finding that in just an hour or two, I can have my entire house sparkly, and company ready. This, in turn, is giving me extra time to get other things done, like baking bread or in the case of yesterday afternoon, I was able to sit and read a book for a while without a task looming over my shoulder. It was so nice! And as I realize today is Thursday, and our small group is gathering on Sunday for the first time in weeks, I look around and realize that my house is already clean, so all I need to worry about is food for Sunday. What a blessing seeking God's help is becoming!

Not only am I able to get everything done, I am able to enjoy my labor, and the fruits of my labor. Overall, I think I am also much more relaxed, and able to enjoy my family more. I pray that I can continue in this manner and that it will become habit. My quest to be more like the wife in Proverbs 31 is bearing fruit, and it is so encouraging to know that I have help from above. Thank God for his peace and for his help, I would be nothing without it.

2 comments:

paytonfamily said...

Hope you don't mind me posting a note, but I was really encouraged by you taking the cleaning of your house before the Lord and seeking to change and be more in line with a P31 woman. May you continue to seek the Lord daily. God is good. I struggle taking the time to do this each day. And have been trying to prioritize prayer time with my wife each evening to take all things before Him namely the raising of 3 children.

Erika W. said...

Hey there paytonfamily. Anyone is welcome to post here, and I thank you wholeheartedly for your note to me. All too often we forget that God can help us, and wants to help us with even the smallest things. I am constantly amazed that I can find joy in a clean bathroom. :-)

And there is no better reason to go to prayer than when dealing with children. I feel so blessed when I think of the two children that God has granted me caretaker over. And how blessed you are to have three of them to watch over. I'll add you to my prayers as you seek to claim your own daily time for God. He is certainly worth it.