Capturing Clutter

I am currently reading a fabulous book on hospitality. It is titled A Life That Says Welcome. A very interesting survey was taken on hospitality. Two questions were asked: "What are the most common reasons that women don't readily open their homes to others on a regular basis?" and "What are some aspects of being a guest in someones home that are truly important to people?" The most popular response to the first question was that women did not think their home was clean enough to open it up for guests. Sometimes we think the home must be spotless before we open it up. But the answer to the second question, what truly is important to guests was not perfection, but reasonably clean and clutter free. In my home, I learned long ago, perfection or a spotless home is just not attainable with three sons. But, if the home was kept neater, it looked cleaner! But there always seems to be the struggle with clutter.

Here is a picture of my kitchen counter. This is my "hot spot" where clutter gathers QUICK! The mail is sorted here, any papers that need attention get placed here and everyone seems to know this is the place to put stuff if it needs to be dealt with.

But then there is this area where clutter not only gathers, but stays. Old hamburger buns, old Christmas cookies, candy canes no one wants anymore.. it just stays here!

I decided to do a before and after. It only took about 10 minutes to put things in the proper place, throw the things out that were old or we were not using, but look at the difference:

Here is one other "hot spot". This is the first thing you see when you enter my home. Now, not to complain, but my oldest son does his own laundry. That is a huge help to me. As any normal teenage boy seems to be, he only cares about his clothes! This load of laundry was in the dryer when he went to use it for his clothes. He simply deposits it on this table:

Not only is this the first thing people would see when they come in, this was done Sunday morning! What if we had church guests come home and we had our undergarments on the table for all to see????

This is the clutter that must be dealt with right away! Again, only 10 minutes and it was good as new. Capturing clutter before it overtakes you will make for a neat, tidy and happy home!

Sometimes We Score, Sometimes We Block

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We...

WFW – Write It On My Heart

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. Hebrews 8:10 On a recent field trip to a museum featuring the days gone by, we sat in an old schoolroom as the teacher introduced us to the quill pen and bottle of ink. She cautioned us to use extreme caution using the ink and told us that if it got on our skin or clothes, it would not come off. This reminded me of this beautiful promise from Hebrews. God told His people he would put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts. This is a covenant which cannot be broken. He loves us and wants us to know Him through His Word. As we read more and more of His Word, it becomes w...

Construction, Challenges, Chaos

Who knew something simple could erupt into something chaotic so quickly? A broken file cabinet forced us to purchase a new one. We found one online, ordered it and it arrived quickly with a do it yourself assembly book, complete with 24 part packages and 18 steps of instructions! As we unpacked the items and compared with the instruction book, we realized a part was missing. Customer service was called, a replacement part was quickly received. Except, the screws did not fit into the holes on the replacement part. We tried again, received another part, same issue. Meanwhile, the 24 packages of parts are spread out on my living room floor, customer service does not understand my issue, they asked for photos which were sent and now we are again, waiting for a part. It seems every project faces the inevitable delay. My work place is undergoing a floor remodel. Upheaval, dust, packing, lots of inconvenience and depending on the work crew's schedule dictate the next fe...

AnonymousFebruary 3, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Joyfull, there are a few hot spots around here too that I need to tackle. I think I will add the book you mentioned to my list of things to read. Thanks! I soooo love my visits here:)
AnonymousFebruary 3, 2009 at 6:53 PM
It is ironic to read about that survey. I just received a phone call from a loved one today who had just come from a visit to a new friend's home. It was her first time in the friend's home and she loved it because the home was not overly clean on her account. She said that she gets intimidated by a person's home that is too immaculate and then in turn will not have that person over to her own home. Isn't that interesting?

Now my personality is completely different and I enjoy going to homes better than mine because I am always looking and observing trying to learn how to do better in my own home!!

Joyfull Living

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