Why do I want a clean home???

That is the question Sarah Mae has asked us on day one of these 31 Days to Clean. And I'm so glad she asked. I'm so thankful for this whole challenge in the first place! It's just the perfect next step for Suzy meets Proverbs 31! It pushes me into the getting my house clean steps while still letting me focus on being diligent to my daily tasks and putting off laziness! She's doing the thinking for me... while leading me to do some heart work on these topics too.

Day 1... I had to ask myself, why do I want a clean home? Really.

There could be so many reasons.

So I sit here thinking. Health, for one. Apparently this hasn't been enough for me (apparently none of the following reasons have been) or I would be better at it. But, oh how I want it to be! How it should be! Especially since my Tornado has allergies to both dust and mold, among other things. So in motivation's simplest form, I should clean for the health of it.

But what else? Clean is comfortable! Rather I could say not clean is not comfortable! Tripping over toys is not a comfortable way tot live. Crumbs and dirt stuck to the bottom of your feet and socks is not comfortable. Sitting on or having to push over laundry before sitting down is not comfortable! And just imagine how much more comfortable a bed would be if it were properly aired out and covers straightened daily... laundered regularly!

Clean is also restful... relaxing! Doesn't matter who you are. If things are dirty, messy, cluttered and/or unorganized, it is not restful or relaxing. I may be able to ignore it all and live with it like this, but there is still a constant inner nagging about what still needs to be done. And I'm in this house all day everyday. Now imagine my sweet husband who works all day for us and comes home to this unorganized mess. I want him to want to come home. And once he's here I want him to find rest... refuge. As his eyes travel around the room I want him to feel peace. To smile. Not to feel like he really should get up and help me by doing this or that which has gone undone yet again.

Clean is safe too. This is true especially in food safety, but also with toys or projects that are left strewn about. Toys can be tripped over. Spills, puddled on the floor, can be slipped in. Knives or scissors left out grabbed up by mistake... cutting. Plus so many other hazards awaiting.

Then there is this... clean is pleasing! Pleasing to the eye as you walk into a room or look around. Pleasing to smell instead of whatever that smell is we can never seem to figure out. Pleasing to the touch. Instead of gritty or coarse, it could be smooth and... well... clean!

I want my home to be clean for all these reasons for me. But how much more do I want my home to be all these things for my sweet husband and my precious children!


So there you go. Now... how to put it in a succinct little paragraph of a "mission statement"???

Clean is healthy. Clean is comfortable. Clean is restful. Clean is safe. Clean is pleasing.

It's my hope that one day "home" will be all these things too.

And before I "sign off", it's occurring to me that "clean" is at least one more thing (I hate to limit what else I might have missed). Clean is also love! It's certainly not the only way I show it, but it most certainly is one of the big ones!



Have you purchased your copy of 31 Days to Clean (I don't get anything out of it... really! I'm just excited to step into this next part of Suzy meets P31!)... there's still time to join in!

Labels: Keeping My Home, Life Lessons for Mommy, Suzy meets P31

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 7:57 PM