Monday, May 08, 2006

Spring Cleaning

A sigh of relief to have experienced success at a long talked about event around our house....a garage sale! We finally did it this weekend and got rid of things like clothes, books, toys, etc.. What will we do with the earnings? (we faired quite well I must say!) Probably, with time, end up buying more stuff. Isn't that sad?

So now I have a little more space and I feel the urge to jump all the way into spring cleaning. If our storage was more organized it would hold more stuff. The problem with me is my age old habit of having great intentions and then running out of ummmphff before the job is done. Usually, instead of sticking to the task, I stop and look through old journals, reminisce through stacks of pictures, and on and on...while life continues around me and I run out of time to finish well - so it all gets stacked back - unorganized - and not much better than where I started. So...I think I might take it a bit slower this time and try to achieve a bit more success. I have heard that it helps to start in one corner of your house and work your way around. Any other suggestions from you probably much better housekeepers than me?!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I moved into the log cabin that I'm living in now, I had to face a lot of storage issues since there are NO CLOSETS in here! They didn't have 'em 150 years ago. Look what we've become since then! So, here are my thoughts:

Start with the smallest room. You'll not be so overwhelmed, and when you actually see a result, it'll motivate you to move on to the bigger stuff.

And organize all your memory stuff (journals, pics, kid crafts, letters, etc.) but DO NOT LOOK AT ANY OF IT!!! Get through ALL of your cleaning and cleaning out first. Save those things for a special weekend that you can devote some time going through them and re-living moments in your heart and mind (guilt free!). Those are the hardest things to purge, but it helps to remember that the real memory is living inside you.

MAKE YOURSELF go to the edge in throwing stuff away. (If it's useful or beautiful, keep it, if not question why you've been holding on to it.) You will automatically want to keep more than what you need, but I guarantee you will feel TONS better when you lighten the load. In a way, freeing up all the clutter gives wings to your heart. You'll find yourself enjoying what you have so much more and focusing more on people than things.

I'm a huge fan of this whole process, and I love doing it every year. It's almost representative of the work God continues to do in me... and similarly... neither will be complete until Jesus comes or I die!!!

ENJOY your spring cleaning friend!

Erna Wiebe said...

Well, Care! I have the perfect solution. Since I am coming to see you in June, save your cleaning until I get there and THEN, YOU can come back with me and help me. Is that a deal? Now who has the bigger house? Ha.ha.
Don't over do it?
Love.........
MOM

Char said...

Make a list ... cross off as you go ... keeps you accountable!!

Char

Not nearly as inspiring as the above comments, but hey!!!