Clutter and the Kingdom

I have mentioned here occasionally that I am a bit of a neat freak. I like my kitchen counters clean and bare, my closet color coded and my books arranged by height. Three items on the dining table form a clutter in my head, and I utterly dislike the feeling of going to bed with dishes in the sink. Once, taking a women's class at church the speaker told us we did not have to submit to the cleanliness bondage, for there is no inspector that will knock on your door to check if you dusted your shelves and vacuumed under the couch. My answer to her? But I am the inspector!

So you get the picture of what my house looks like on a daily basis, except for extreme cases of sickness, pregnancy fatigue, or excessive business (I am not that crazy and won't trade in sleeping hours for cleaning, ever!). Pair that with a love for making things homey, and you got a cleaning obsessed and always on the search for new ways to organize/declutter/simplify home maker. 

That is why I love Simple Mom's yearly Project Simplify so much. I was actually quite bummed to not take part in it this year because we had just put our house up for sale and I figured I should do it when I moved. Yeah, still waiting on that to happen. (By the way, I did take part in it last year and loved it!). 

I recently read Simplify, by Joshua Becker, which talks about how we can be rational minimalists, not the type that has one piece of furniture in the living room, but that has enough and only that which we need. I loved it off the bat and immediately started working out decluttering plans. 

Two days later, the church had an announcement of a garage sale to raise proceeds for missions. It felt like a confirmation that this needed to be done. But more so, I felt more inspired than I ever did before. With every piece of kitchen gadget and craft supply, instead of thinking  Won't I need it eventually? my heart would tug and go Can this raise money for the Kingdom?

So I went through my house and made a decision. Purging for it's own sake may be healthy, but doing it with a purpose to bring Glory to God, just like anything else in life, is so much more worth it. 

One year later

One year ago I moved from a rented apartment to our first house. It was a hectic, bitter-sweet Saturday. I was anxious about the move, getting into our house, making sure the dogs wouldn't be overly stressed and worried about life in a new place.

Things took a turn to the worse when I got into the house and realised all the lighting fixtures were gone and the water was shut. All of a sudden, moving involved an urgent trip to the hardware store and the help of the subdivision handy-man in order to get the water running, plus the help of my brother and dad to get us a working shower and toilet seat. To top it all off, my nephew (and godson!)'s baby shower was scheduled for the same day, and I felt guilty for not making it.

When I think about my plans and dreams upon entering the house, I cannot help but smile about the big gap in between. I assumed the walls would be painted and all our pictures framed and hung. I was sure my craft-room would be a Pinterest-worthy room. I obsessed about my laundry room and how amazing it would look. And my backyard? Don't even get me started on the plans I had for that. I also lived through more arguments, tears and heartaches in this year than I could have planned for.

However, I also lived better moments I could dream of. I had my first Christmas dinner at home. We adopted another dog. I changed jobs. I found a family. I changed my living room setting a gazillion times. And if I had lived a live as I planned, it wouldn't be as good.

So here's to a messy house. To loud dogs and to and empty pantry. To makeshift furniture and untested Pinterest boards. And to the years to come in this wonderful house.

Grateful Thursday: Week 2

It's that time of the week. What are YOU grateful for?

♥ Last week of term with kids (always special!) ♥ A clean home ♥ Plans for the weekend ♥ TWO YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY  ♥  tons of Pinterest inspiration ♥ Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave book ♥ Curves gym and working out buddies ♥ A conversation with a street walker and lots of love for his ten year old doggie ♥

House chores

For a bunch of reasons, I do not have a maid or cleaning lady nowadays. In Brazil, that is outrageous! I seriously have people asking me how in the world am I managing. A cleaning lady here costs about 25 bucks a day, so it's understandable that they are 'must haves' at home.

However, the truth is, I am not sure I want another one. Although they come cheap, dealing with most of them is a pain. The last draw with my former cleaning lady was the fact that she used dog pee-soaked rags to clean my house. It took two heavy scrubs everywhere to get the smell out.

I live in a 650 square feet house, with a 160 square feet backyard. A mansion, I know. But I actually love the fact that it is small, and find it a huge blessing. It means I can work a full time job and keep my house clean and tidy. Here is my routine:

First, these daily tasks take 15 minutes of my day and keep me sane:

Daily:

o   Do the bed

o   Dirty clothes in hamper

o   Wash and dry one load of laundry

o   Hang clean clothes in closet

o   Clean counters and sinks

o   Do the dishes

o   Take out the trash

o   Put out new kitchen rags

o   Any minor tidying up

Most of the rest can be done once a week:

Monday: Iron clothes, change bed sheets and towels

Tuesday: Wash bathroon, kitchen, backyard and desinfect trash cans

Wednesday: Vaccumm and dust, wash windows

Thursday: Wash oven and stove, fridge, and dutch oven.

Friday (or Saturday morning): Wash bathroon, kitchen, backyard and desinfect trash cans

Then there are the monthly jobs:

1st week of the month

o   Dog's bath

2nd week of the month

o   Dust lamp shades and fans

o   Wash glasses from bar

3rd week of the month

o   Clean under appliances

o   Clean on top of cupboards

4th week of the month

Clean inside closets in bedroom, bathroom and kitchen

If things get a bit crazy, I work extra hard to get everything back in shape. I also have a seasonal list, which I'll share another day. How about you? How do you keep your home clean and neat?

Book review: Organized Simplicity

Organized Simplicity, by Tsh Oxenreider 

It seems fitting that my first post in my English blog would be about Tsh’s book. Her blog Simple Mom is one of the reasons why I fell in love with the blogging world! I actually stumbled upon it during last year’s Project Simplify. I loved the idea of purging for the sake of organizing. I had always purged while organizing, but never with the intention of getting rid of stuff- it would simply happen.

I digress. Anyway, I heard she had a book out and made it my first kindle book purchase. She was actually giving it away for free, but as I live in Brazil, I couldn’t grab it. I was a bit hesitant in paying for it, since I am pretty organized, as I figured it would be 99% of common sense.

Boy, was I wrong. First of all, the focus of this book, in my opinion, is not the organizing itself. It’s about how much clutter we surround ourselves with, and how much better our lives can be with less. She talks about all types of excess: stuff, spending, and too many commitments.

I have always considered myself a bit of a frugal person. It took me a good four years to convince myself that an Ipod or a Kindle would be a good purchase. I own less than five purses and less than fifteen shoes. I have three pairs of jeans. All in all, I figured I have much less stuff than most of my girlfriends.

Until I ready Tsh’s book. I didn’t feel guilty, but as she went on, I couldn’t help but thinking about the stuff I have and never wear. Never use. Never remember. And it’s all there, taking up space in my tiny home.  Now that’s what I call a mind-blowing-life-altering book.

On March 5^th, this year’s Project Simplify kicks off. And I can’t wait. I have been thinking about some items non-stop, and even considered starting ahead of the game. But I figured I better not. I still need some time to digest everything. I’ll spend the next two weeks paying attention to my things, and making mental notes of what I really use. That way, I’ll be sure to have some happy-no-guilt-involved purging.