31 Days to Clean Having a Martha House the Mary way
Day 15 – I’d Rather Do Anything But Clean (Motivation)
Mary Challenge: Write up a lesson plan for your children about the eternal value that taking care of your domain has. Find scripture, inspirational quotes, books, anything, that will reinforce the “why” behind getting ourselves in gear to clean. There is just something about teaching our children that will dig truth deeper into our own hearts.
Martha Challenge: Bedroom – Wash mirrors, walls, and insides of windows. Wash window treatments.
Yay, we don't have mirrors in Any of the bedrooms!!!
Confession: didn't do it (wash walls/windows)...yet. Upstairs time is scares at my house with 3 under 3. I haven't figured out a way to work upstairs while they are not sleeping in their rooms. I did wash window treatments and finally hung the ones in the girls room (rather than the sheets blocking the light). I hate washing/dusting blinds though...any helpful hints?
oh, and I'm 5'2"...ceilings...prolly never happening. Maybe the cobwebs in the corners with a broom ;o)
Day 16 - Willing Hands
Mary Challenge: What’s your block? What’s holding you back from allowing your ideals to guide you in the day-to-day? What can you do about it?
IRONY: I just wrote a post about my ideal. I still believe letting go of it and letting God reshape it is best right now and totally agree that I can accomplish {close to} my ideals with God's help and with "willing" hands!
Martha Challenge: Bedrooms – Steam clean carpets or area rugs, wash hard-wood floors.
I think I've given up on steam-cleaning any of my carpets this month...in the near future. Not because of inability. Just not the priority right now. Renting one, moving all my furniture, waiting for it to dry, and doing all this in 24 hours would be asking too much of our budget (this month), too much of my hubby to either watch the babes while I did it all or did major moving things for me, it would be a huge inconvenience for my family to be displaced while I attempted this mega goal in their space, and on top of all that, they would have to deal with the mad women that came with that. I vacummed...does that count?
Have you found a trend? I seem to be picking and chosing what works for me, my family, our lives. How are you adjusting this challenge but also allowing yourself to be stretched?
I’m adjusting the challenge a lot too. For me, it makes more sense to just clean the entire room top to bottom and be done, rather than move the furniture to clean the walls one day, then move it again to steam clean, etc. I already had a pretty good system for cleaning the house, and most of these chores were already on my weekly list (minus things like steam cleaning) so I tend to find it frustrating to do them one at a time, when I normally do two rooms top to bottom each day of the week. Still, there are some extra things on here that I don’t necessarily do every week.. so I keep working through the book. 🙂 My kids are older – all teens, I think that makes it all so much easier… I definitely didn’t clean this thoroughly when they were all much younger.
Thanks for the encouragement! It’s nice to hear how others are working through this book! I’m also encouraged that it will be possible to work these things into a normal routine easier when my kiddos are older. Thanks again for then insight into what 31 days to clean looks like in your life.