Now that I’ve established a decent purge of my home and my sinful heart, I typically want to “call it good” for the day. But step 3 is JUST as important in my spiritual and domestic spring-cleaning as the first 2 steps:
Step 3: Organize
Step 3.a: Put away the piles!
If an item is necessary or valuable to our life, I pile it based on its role (hair/bathroom, clothes, office supplies, etc.). At the end of my cleaning time, I MUST put these piles away.
The other day, I made the mistake of leaving the piles in my studio for the next day of cleaning. My writing productivity decreased greatly that week and I didn’t want to even go in the room!
In the same way, I believe God wants to bring order in my heart. He has given me a desire to do good and glorify God. But these Christlike qualities must have their “time and place.”
For instance, I could pack my day with appointments to mentor young women in my life (definitely a “keeper quality,” see Titus 2). But by evening, I’m brain-dead and still don’t have dinner on the table. I’ve missed out on “being still” before The Lord (Psalm 46:10), being helpful to my husband (1 Peter 3), and being faithful in other tasks (Luke 16:10).
It is important to keep certain items in my house, and my heart. But each must find a “home”: a place where it serves its purpose without distracting from the overall goal of glorifying God in my whole home/heart.
Step 3.b: Set a time-limit
I must organize the way I organize by setting a timer. I’ve always been an all-in kind of gal, so this is hard. I just want to go-go-go till it is done or I crash. Being pregnant means I crash much sooner, and more dangerously (dehydration, forgetting to eat lunch, over working my body).
I do the same thing with my heart. I could soul-search all day, pouring over what I need to “fix” in myself. That’s when I go back and read my “Breakfast with Jesus” post and remember that, in Christ, it is finished.
Campfire Check-In:
What are some ways you maintain organization in your life and your home?