Making Your Home a Haven Challenge: Day 1

Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood has a nice little challenge going on today. I like this challenge as its one that will make a difference in your life.

Here it is....

Today's Challenge:

1. Refresh Your Spirit (5 minutes)Take five minutes, brew a cup of tea or coffee, and sit down and be still before the Lord.

Pray, read a Psalm, thank the Lord for His goodness and blessing in your life.Having a home that is a haven starts with an inner peace in our own hearts, a quiet resting in the Lord. You can have a beautifully decorated home with everything neat and orderly, but if you are frazzled and frustrated, your home will not be a peaceful place. After all, the saying is so true, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."So before you do anything else today, take time to refresh your spirit in the Lord.

2. Take Time to Plan (5 minutes)Today's planning project is centered on a morning routine. This is a habit I used to follow faithfully and have fallen out of somewhat in the last few months. So I'm determined to re-develop this again!Write down five things you want to do in the same order every morning. Keep it simple and only stick to five things. If five things seem overwhelming, start with three. Starting somewhere is better than not starting at all!We'll be keeping each other accountable for our morning routines over the next few weeks.

Put your list in a very conspicuous place and consult it first thing each morning.I'd love to have you post your list on your blog to share with us.

3. Do Something! (5 -15 minutes)Each day I'm going to be giving you a simple organizational task to complete in your home. And today we're going to start at the very beginning - a very good place to start!

Put on an apron, light a candle, and turn on some uplifting music. Then go to your front door and pretend you are a first-time visitor to your home. Walk in and take a look around. What is your immediate impression of your home? Is it calm and clean or cluttered and chaotic? Take five to fifteen minutes to clean, de-clutter, and beautify your entry area. Do a quick pick up if there are items out of place, mop or vacuum the floor, shake the rug, spot clean the walls, and rearrange things.Take before and after pictures if you'd like and post them to share with us.

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Now here is my personal plan...

I sat with Bible in hand reading Psalm 8 which led me to a verse I love so well,

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

It is often difficult for me to put a book down once I get reading and this morning was that way, the Bible held my attention as well as any good story book.

Now as for my plan..now on this I have to just plan to not plan. I have spent a good deal of my life when the children were small, living by cleaning schedules etc, and they worked so well then, and they were needed for me to run an organized house, but now, no children home, my job is more of a spur of the moment helper to others, so the best laid plans often fall by the wayside.
My house doesn't require lots of work. I do what needs to be done when I see it needs to be done. I try to keep it tidy and if it is a bit messy I no longer stress out, its never dirty. Just maybe messy at time in one area. Our home is easy to clean, not one floor to be vacuumed, sweeping is easy to do daily, no machine to take out and lug around. Decluttering has made the task of cleaning much easier. I will though, plan a task for today. With my Christmas party coming up, I need to do some deep cleaning in the dinning room and the guest bedrooms (they are messy right now with sewing and quilting things on the beds) One room a day will be my plan. Baking will take up the other days this week.

There are next to no chaotic days in my life, which is fine with me. Even when the children were all home, they never ruled the home and since I stayed home, meaning I literally stayed home, didn't have a car to go running here or there, order was the norm. The children had farm chores, school work and play time to keep them busy. It honestly never felt chaotic.

My personal thought on family chaos is that people go out far too much, do too many things outside the home. It isn't a treat any more to go to town for folks, its ordinary, almost an everyday event. Its hard to be "busy at home" as it says in Titus when you aren't there much.

When you walk in my house as a friend, there is always a comfy chair to be sat in, good smells to greet you, hot tea in a minutes time and there is always some sort of treat to be munched on while chatting and sipping tea.