Making Your Home a Haven Monday - Especially for Beginners
I've had a number of brand-new homemakers write recently and ask for some basic help and direction in getting started towards having a more orderly home. I'm hoping to do a series on very basic building blocks towards home organization soon and I'm also planning a Clear Out the Clutter Challenge coming up in another few weeks, but for today, I thought I'd keep this challenge really simple for those of you who are just beginning your homemaking journey.Today's Challenge:
1. Refresh Your Spirit (5 minutes)
Take five minutes, brew a cup of tea or coffee, and sit down and be still before the Lord. Pray, read a Psalm, thank the Lord for His goodness and blessing in your life.
Having a home that is a haven starts with an inner peace in our own hearts, a quiet resting in the Lord. You can have a beautifully decorated home with everything neat and orderly, but if you are frazzled and frustrated, your home will not be a peaceful place. After all, the saying is so true, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
So before you do anything else today, take time to refresh your spirit in the Lord.
2. Take Time to Plan (5 minutes)
Today's planning project is centered on a morning routine. Write down five things you want to do in the same order every morning. Keep it simple and only stick to five things. If five things seem overwhelming, start with three. Starting somewhere is better than not starting at all!
Put your list in a very conspicuous place and consult it first thing each morning.
Project: If you have a blog, post your morning routine to share with us. If you don't have a blog, you are welcome to leave a comment and share it.
3. Do Something! (5 -15 minutes)
Put on an apron, light a candle, and turn on some uplifting music.
Newbie project: Then go to your front door and pretend you are a first-time visitor to your home. Walk in and take a look around. What is your immediate impression of your home? Is it calm and clean or cluttered and chaotic? Take five to fifteen minutes to clean, de-clutter, and beautify your entry area. Do a quick pick up if there are items out of place, mop or vacuum the floor, shake the rug, spot clean the walls, and rearrange things. Take before and after pictures if you'd like and post them to share with us.
For those of you who have been following along with this series a bit longer: Today I encourage you to focus on cleaning your bathrooms. We'll be using baking soda and Basic H to scrub them from top to bottom. We'll also be washing the rugs, changing the towels, refilling the hand soap dispensers, and making sure there is plenty of toilet paper and other supplies.
If your bathrooms are already spotless, pick some other room or area in your home which needs some attention and get busy! Set the timer, involve your children, and see how much you can get done in a short amount of time. After you are finished, take a short minute to post about your accomplishments on your blog so that we can all be inspired.
I'll be posting my pictures and telling you more about what I did for the challenge today in a later post. I'm off to get started!
Graphic from AllPosters.com
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Join in the Challenge! Do one or more of the items above or something else to make your home a haven and post about it on your blog. Then come back here and leave your leave below. Let's all inspire and encourage one another to glorify God through making our homes a haven for our families and everyone who would enter their doors.
Labels: Making Your Home a Haven
posted by Crystal Paine at 7:00 AM
7 Comments:
THANK YOU! I really needed direction this morning after our crazy week last week. The bathroom was the perfect place to start and I feel so good this morning having gotten a big job done already!
My kids thank you, too. They usually have the fun job of cleaning the bathroom.
Just happened across your blog today. Your method seems very similar to FlyLady's home-keeping system (www.flylady.net), with its decluttering, 5 to 15 minute increments, making routines, etc. I have been using that system and it works pretty well for keeping the home organized.
Have a blessed day.
I did clear some clutter today...I cleaned the top of my fridge which ends up because I am short and do not see it, very dusty and full of little things that needed to be put up high out of reach of children. It looks much better! We also cleaned behind our washer today, thankfully not much back there, but something that needs to be done sometimes.
Ok, I did NOT get my bedroom/office decluttered today. But I DID get a section of it done. I decided to tackle small bites rather than get discouraged because the job was too big. thanks Crystal!
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com/blog
This was a great challenge. I involved my girls and we had a lovely time.
Thanks, Crystal! This is just what I needed today. I just posted about my entryway dilemma, and I'd love for anyone's input and ideas.
I enjoy your site, I'll be back for more. Hope you'll check out my site as well!
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