31 Days to Clean... Day One

I recently received a free copy of the e-book 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way. I realized the other day that this was perfect timing, because the kids and I finished our school year yesterday, and we have exactly 31 days until our next year of school starts! (We do nine weeks on and four weeks off, year round.) So my hope is that by the time we start back to school, I will have a firm housecleaning schedule that is part of our daily routine, and that I will have accomplished several household projects that really need to be done! As I mentioned to a few people recently, May 22nd was my one-year anniversary of being home full time... and my house STILL isn't clean! (Ok, it's clean today, but it wasn't clean on the actual anniversary date.) :)


So today was Day One. And true to form, I am finally tackling this at 11:00 at night! In this book, each day has a "Martha Challenge" and a "Mary Challenge". 

Today's Mary Challenge:

Identify specific reasons you want to make your home a haven, and then complete a mission statement based on those reasons. 

• I want my home to be a haven because my home should be a haven. You should enjoy coming home! The saying "Home Sweet Home" should really be true. I can say from personal experience that it is awfully depressing to come home to a messy home. I have been heard walking in the door and announcing "Home Sweet Trashpit" more times than I would care to admit! I have really stayed on top of the housecleaning this past week, and the mood of me and the kids this week has reflected it. It makes a huge difference (at least to me) for us to start our day with a house that is already in shape, as opposed to working around messes... or spending all day straightening up the house instead of being able to accomplish other things... or to have the luxury of not needing to accomplish anything at all!
• I want to be able to enjoy company, rather than being disgusted with the state of my house...or worse: being irritated by unexpected visitors. Unexpected visitors can be a delight when your house is in order, and can be a fright when your house is a mess! :)
• I want to keep the stress level down in our house. By most people's standards, our house is too small for our family, since we have one person sleeping on the couch. To us, it's pretty much just right (there were six of us in the house for seven years, so in comparison, having just five of us for the past almost-three years has seemed down right roomy!), BUT the doorways get rather stressful. A common phrase heard in our kitchen doorway from a certain adult member of the family is, "Doorways are meant to walk through, not stand in!" :) All five of us in the kitchen at the same time (generally when I'm trying to put away groceries, and everyone else has swarmed to the kitchen to see what food we have) could cause major coronary failure. So there are definitely areas of the house that tend to be more stressful than others, and if you add messy rooms to the mix, it's just a disaster waiting to happen.
• Some people seem to be able to function well in disorganization (or worse), but I am not one of those people. I get easily frustrated, so life goes a lot more smoothly for me (and those who have to live with me!) when things are organized.
• Lastly, I want to run my house, rather than letting my house run me.   

In summary, I want to maintain a clean and organized home so that I and those I live with can enjoy coming home, being at home, and having other people in our home.  

Today's Martha Challenge:

Look over all of the Martha challenges in this book and make a list of any supplies you need to get - organizing supplies, cleaning supplies, etc.

Luke 10:38-42Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.