I'm a Runner, not Road Kill.

I love to run.  I like the results.  Running is tough and it's a mental battle for me, but when I reach my goal, it’s a rush!  I feel like I’m doing something good for my body and I like the way that feels.  About six months ago though, I just quit running.  I ‘fell off the wagon’ so to speak.  Actually, I jumped off the wagon, rolled around on the ground and laid there like road kill, waiting for the vultures to come and finish me off.  Dramatic as it may sound, it’s true.  Sometimes life just throws stuff at you from nowhere and it makes you just want to give up and throw in the towel. 

  So there I was, another tragic victim plowed down by life- 

  Just one more piece of ROAD KILL. Anybody else been there?

.Galatians 5:7, Paul writes…

“You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?” (NIV)

    

  If there’s one thing I know about road kill, it’s that it stinks!  Living life like a piece of road kill is no better. The offensive odor permeates to everyone around you. The only ones who get pleasure out of seeing road kill are the vultures who like to pick it apart for their own benefit. Now, I don’t know anyone who would purposely lay herself out on the side of the road so that the vultures could come and pick them apart, but when we give up on running the race sometimes we allow it to happen. 

Why would we allow ourselves to be picked apart by life’s vultures when we aren’t road kill, we’re runners?! 

  “We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:9

 It’s time to scrape ourselves up off the pavement, and get back to running the race because We are RUNNERS!

“Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us”. Hebrews 12:1 Pin It

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Having a Clean House without Losing Your Mind (Part 2)

Creating a Realistic Cleaning List

Like we talked about earlier, keeping your house clean is all about staying on top of things before they get too messy and out-of-hand.  Daily maintenance is key. Yes, you will be cleaning everyday but I would rather do a quick clean everyday than spend an entire day cleaning. 

 I divide my schedule up into three categories: 

      1. Maintenance chores (5 min.)

      2. Cleaning chores (30 min.)

      3. Deep cleaning chores (10 min)

 There are several sites that you can copy cleaning lists from. If you search Pintrest for cleaning lists, the choices can be overwhelming and  if you really want to get serious about it, you can check this lady out, http://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/. There are plenty of lists available to copy and I have left mine here too, but every house is different and your standards may be a little different according to your season in life.  For instance if you are mommy to several very young children at the moment, you may not be in a season of life where it is realistic to clean the crumbs out of you toaster on a weekly basis – you may just want to be able to find your toaster!  Recognize your season in life and give yourself a break –be realistic about what you can stand to live in comfortably.

1. Daily Maintenance:

This is the 5-10 minute general pick-up that needs to happen in order to be able to actually clean when the time comes.  After a few days, these things just become routine.

My Daily Maintenance chores are:

Morning:

General pick up

Make the beds

Wipe down bathroom sinks with Clorox wipes

Put dishes away (Unload/Load dishwasher)

After Dinner:

Sweep the kitchen floor

Toy pick up

Clear any leftover dishes in sink and replace dishtowels.

2. Weekly Cleaning:

This is where you must decide how to divide your cleaning tasks up to a reasonable time limit each day.  I would prefer to divide my house cleaning by rooms, but you may prefer to divide them by chores, for example, all the dusting on Monday, all the floors on Tuesday… Also you may want to do a load of laundry everyday, or you may want to set one day aside for all the laundry.

In addition, decide how many days you can realistically spend an extra thirty minutes to clean.  I distribute my chores over four days Monday thru Thursday, leaving Friday for special projects and my weekends free because they are usually pretty crazy.

My Weekly Cleaning Chores are:

Monday: Clean Kitchen/Living Room

Tuesday: Bathrooms

Wednesday: Bedrooms

Thursday: All Laundry

Friday: Project Day

3. Deep Cleaning Chores ( aka Zones)

I then set aside about 10 minutes each day to deep clean one specific area per week.

Week 1: Porches

Week 2: Kitchen

Week 3: Bedrooms

Week 4: Baths

Week 5: Living Room, Dining Room, Office

                       

Once you have your list made, put it somewhere were you can get to it easily (Genius, I know, right?) Find some cute paper that you don’t mind looking at everyday and print that baby out. I found mine here: http://www.my3monsters.com/2011/09/housekeeping.html.  Some people like to keep their list in a notebook.  I like to stick mine right on the fridge, so I can refer to it easily.

Next, comes the hard part; DO IT! 

Anything worth doing usually requires a little commitment on your part and cleaning is no different.  The first two weeks of trying to get into a new routine are the hardest, but after that it becomes more of a routine, and you can move through it a little faster.  However, life is not perfect. There are times when I don’t have the time or energy to follow my list on a particular day.  The beauty of this is that it’s no big deal!  Because you are maintaining, things never get so messy that you can’t skip a day now and then.  

FYI:   I like to make my cleaning lists very detailed, so that I can easily glance at them, find a task, and mark it off.  They are way to long to post here, but if you would like a copy, I would be happy to email them to you.

In the next post, we'll discuss tips to make following those lists cheaper and faster to shorten your cleaning time! Pin It

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Let's Dance!!

I searched through a line of 16 little girls all bouncing around as a hip hop beat sounded in the background. It was Ella's first dance class, a big day in the life of a little girl who once claimed that she was "born to dance". We had been running a little late, so I had quickly given her a peck on the cheek, and left her in the care of her dance instructor as I joined the other parents watching through a window. I spotted her in the front row, eyes focused on her instructor, attempting to mimic her every move. 

  But as I began to watch her, an unexpected rush of emotion welled up in me and I struggled to keep my composure as feelings of love, joy, and pride for my little girl overwhelmed me. Oh, her timing was a little off at moments, she even missed some steps all together, and she stumbled a few times as she struggled to keep her balance. No, it was certainly not a perfect performance that moved me -it was her passion. It was the way she abandoned herself to the dance and kept her eyes focused on her instructor. She was not deterred by a few stumbles, nor did she let a few missed steps stop her from moving forward. She paid no mind to whether she was dancing as well as the girl beside her and she gave no thought to the fact that someone else may have noticed her inabilities.

  I stood there in awe, a proud momma, filled with such love and delight, realizing that my five year old little girl had discovered something that had taken me years into adulthood to learn. I thought back to all the missed opportunities, when I was afraid to pursue the very things that I was "born to do" simply because I would not be able to do them perfectly. I allowed the thought that someone might be watching critically,that I might miss a step, or even stumble, keep me from moving forward. I concluded that since other did it so much better, I shouldn't even try. Somehow I just quit "dancing" all together.  

  What about you?  Are you pursuing the passion that God created you to do?  Our Heavenly Father has created each of us with a gifts and passions. He left us in the hands of awesome Instructor, the Holy Spirit, to guide our every move.  Be assured He is watching us from "the window" and He is not moved by perfection (He never even expected it) but He delights in your obedience as you pursue your passion in sweet abandon. So don't be afraid...get out there and DANCE!! Pin It

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How to Have a Clean House 

without Losing Your Mind. (Part 1)

 Living in the parsonage means that we have a lot of guests.  We love opening our home to people, but that also means that we need to be ready to do that at a moment's notice. Knowing that, and having a sometimes crazy schedule, it can be a little overwhelming to keep a "company ready" house with two "creative" little girls and a dog.  After 7 yrs of parsonage living, I've learned a couple of things that have helped me keep my sanity.  

   1.  ESTABLISH your standard for being "company ready". At my house that means that I am not mortified if someone drops by unannounced and my house is not perfect. We live here and living is sometimes messy. As long as they can use our guest bath (which also happens to be our girls bathroom) without worrying about them finding toothpaste smeared on the sink, faucet,mirror, guest towel, light switch...(does anyone else have this problem?) and dirty 'unawares' on the floor, I'm good. 

  I would also like for them to be able to sit down somewhere without fear of being assaulted by a  misplaced Lego creation and I would like to have a clean glass to offer them a drink.  That's all. That, to me, is realistic for this season of our lives.

 I mean, it would also be nice if a spontaneous visitor was not greeted at the door by a five year old who believes that the term 'put on your comfy clothes' refers to stripping down to only your underwear, but sometimes spontaneity comes at a price, and at our house, that's the price you pay. 

 2. THE CLEANING LIST.  I keep a detailed cleaning list and I have been known to receive a little teasing for it, but I am not deterred by that, because it works!!  I love having a list because whatever is on paper, is one less thing I have to store in my brain- which leaves more room for the important things like where I left my keys, remembering to charge my cell phone, and what Pintrest project I want to work on next.(Okay so the last one isn't that important, but still, it's way more fun to think about than cleaning) 

 Over the years, as my family has grown, and our lives have changed, and so has my list.  The cleaning list has helped me switch from an overwhelming all-day-cleaning event to manageable daily maintenance.  This has been very beneficial because I can admittedly be a bit of a neat freak, maybe more than a bit. At times I can even be a Neat Hulk (at the sight of a huge mess, my blood pressure raises and my ahem' attitude changes).  If the house gets too messy, the Neat Hulk emerges and goes through the house in a cleaning rampage, then sits back and dares anyone to drop a crumb. It's UGLY.

 Having a list and maintaining daily keeps the Neat Hulk at bay and my family is not so scared of me!

Next week, in Part 2 of this series, we'll discuss how to create a sensible realistic cleaning list and actually follow it. I hope you'll join me!

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