The solution is not buying more plastic containers

Not the de-cluttering, nor the deep cleaning, not even the re-organizing that would cure that disaster spaces we live in. I can have a nice clean kitchen like this after I de-junked, re-organized and deep cleaned it...

In about a day or hours later, it could turn back into this –

it's as though I’d never cleaned it. Sad, isn’t it? Although I know it would only take about 15 minutes and I could have the clean kitchen again, the vicious cycle, however, just make me feel sick inside.

I think the key is not factored at the cleansing or the organizing. It is MAINTENANCE! Another word, it means to keep up, to have a routine, good habit and self discipline.

How hard is it to maintain a make-over space? I decided to give it a test this week to see if it would eliminate the stress of a messy kitchen. I’ve been keeping the sink shining, thanks to the FLY method. My test this time was cleaning the stove top, sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor (the counter tops soon).

I remember as a teenager while living in my parent’s home, one of my chore duties was to sweep the kitchen floor after every evening meal. I remember seeing my mom standing in front of the stove top cleaning it. The chores were done quietly and without complain. She would mop the floor every other day as we had heavy traffic through that room constantly. I never gave the cleaning routines much thought until I got married and I had to be the one to sweep, mop and clean the stove. These quickly became the chores I hate doing. Over the years, I would do these chores but always complained about it in my heart.

Something was missing.

I got tons of books on “How” and “Why” about keeping our home. What else would be missing? It took me a long time to accept it – the conviction of my heart. I always thought I was “convicted” but in reality, KNOWING and ACCEPTING are two very different things.
My prayer is that the Lord would gain me strength when I don’t feel like doing certain chores, that the Holy Spirit will remind me that, when I am serving my family, I am serving Him.

Back to the test, So far, I have been cleaning the ranges, sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor for the last six nights. Because I am cleaning something that’s already been cleaned, it goes faster each time. It is becoming a good habit, a routine and I must say I enjoy seeing a clean, tidy kitchen in the morning. The important part of it is that I’ve been doing them with a cheerful attitude, I was even smiling as I went about those three chores – UNDERSTANDING that one of the ways I am serving the Lord is by serving my family, in this case - a clean kitchen for them.

The house is not entirely clean as yet but the hope is definitely on the horizon.