Messy Monday: Do More in A Day

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

"She...works with eager hands." (Proverbs 31:13).

"She sets about her work vigorously." (Proverbs 31:17)

Improving one's home management is much like going on a diet. Just as one seeking to lose weight must eat less and move more, one striving to clean up simply has to move more. Especially in a house with children, there are multiple stray items to pick up several times a day. Of course, as moms with little ones, we should be training our children to pick up, but until they're older, the bulk of the responsibility will fall on us. That means we simply have to put our hands to work.

My number one homemaking challenge is keeping up the intensity when it comes to picking up all day long. Let's face it--it's a lot of work. It's much easier to let our guard down and become a bit apathetic when we walk past a cluttered surface, a floor with toys scattered all around, and other messes (small or large) here and there. Many times, especially when I'm tired or drained, I just feel like walking by and ignoring it. 

 But if I don't ignore it--if I see something to do and work at it with all my might, if I make my hands eager to do the work, if I set about my work vigorously, my home will look much tidier, much more consistently.

If there is not a health reason why you need to rest and recover (childbirth, illness, etc.), let's get busy and see how much we can find to do today. Even seemingly simple things, like putting away this and that while we're in a particular room anyway will make a big difference at day's end.