Apr
13
Posted by Sylvia
This morning I wanted to present to you a poem that has meant a lot to me over the years. I first heard it on the radio read by Elizabeth Elliot. It is not known who wrote it, but was obviously someone who had struggled with some overwhelming tasks. It seems to have been written by someone who knew what it was like to be tempted to despair. We can be tempted to despair or give up. I’ve been tempted to do that, even with the ministry that God has laid in my hands… with my marriage, my home…
Have you ever felt like what God was asking you was just too much? Be careful; there is very often a difference between what God asks of us and what we impose on ourselves out of pride or envy of someone else’s home, job or family. Be sure that what you are attempting to do for the glory of God is truly godly and that you have those all-important priorities in order. Then, when things get really tough, do the next thing.
Do The Next Thing
Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity, and guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrows, child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing.
Do it immediately, do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand
Who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence, safe beneath His wing,
Leave all results, do the next thing
Looking for Jesus, ever serener,
Working or suffering, be thy demeanor;
In His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing.
Then, as He beckons thee, do the next thing.
-Anonymous
Putting one foot in front of the other is sometimes more than we think we can do. We all know though, that it is often just the thing we have to do. Perseverance and determination are usually the marks of age and wisdom. My recommendation though is that you cultivate them both now. Both are traits that God approves of, and if you ask Him, He will give you what you need to develop them in your life no matter how young and inexperienced you may be.
We sometimes trick ourselves into thinking that God will just do it all FOR us. He will not. He will lift us up and care for us, encourage us, give us everything we need and send us on our way to do the things He has given us to do. Sometimes He will carry us through difficult places. But He won’t do our work for us. And often, if we do not take up the challenge to do what He send us to do, He will chose someone else to do it.
Be determined to accomplish what God has set before you today.
Here’s determination for you…..
“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
2 Corinthians, 11:24-25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We’re going to be working in another bedroom today. If you don’t have another bedroom to clean, just choose another room and get busy! 
Many of us have a child’s room or children’s room to clean. And many of us have a real task before us what with all the toys, crayons, books and kid stuff that needs organizing.
Basically, you will follow the same method for cleaning a child’s room that you followed in the Master Bedroom. You may however find that you need extra storage for your child’s things.
Good ideas for storage:
* Closet Systems
* Rubbermaid style containers that are clear
* Stackable containers
* Shelves
* Cubby-hole style shelves
First - Take down curtains and wash them if you are able. If you cannot wash them, hang them outside to air. Be sure not to hang them in full sun if you think they may fade.
Second - Strip the bed linens and put them in to wash or in the laundry room.
Hang the bed spread or comforter out to air.
Third - Hang up and put away all clothes or laundry. This would be a good time to go through a child’s clothing and sort it. Give away, store or sell clothing that does not fit.
If you just don’t have any way to store those clothes, you really should get rid of some of them!
Fourth - Get yourself three baskets, boxes or bags. Label these containers:
Throw Away
Give Away
Put Away
Walk around your room and put everything that you don’t want in the room in one of these boxes. Consider putting up 3/4 of your child’s toys. Every few months, trade out the 1/4 you left out for a new batch of toys and store the rest.
Fifth - Pull everything out of the closet. Oh my, yes, the closet AGAIN! laugh.gif Now go through it quickly and put each item in one of your four boxes. Hang up clothes and sort them into the boxes quickly. Don’t take too much time with this. If your child has not worn the item in 1 year, toss it or give it away.
If an item you pull out of your closet does not belong in the closet, if the closet is not where you really should store it, then move it to its rightful place. If you don’t have anywhere else for this item, then its rightful place is the closet. Only you know.
Dust, sweep and clean the inside of the closet. Rehang the clothes. Arrange the contents of the closet that are going back in it, correctly and neatly.
Sixth - Clean out from under the bed. Pull it all out, divide the under-bed contents into your four boxes. Sweep and mop under the bed when everything is moved out from under it.
Seventh - Dust the ceilings, tops of windows and door frames, and walls. If you walls are dirty and you want to wash them, go for it! Use a mild detergent or soap and warm water if you have painted walls. If you have wallpaper, you will want to use a barely damp sponge and a drying towel. Work from the top of the wall down to the floor. If you have carpet, cover it!
Now to the Nitty Gritty Cleaning of the Room:
* Wash the windows. Use my homemade window cleaner or what ever you have on hand. Use newspaper to dry them for a streak free shine!
* Clean up the window frames now and dry them well.
* Clean the baseboards with a soapy solution of mild dish soap and warm water or your natural cleaner
* Dust all furniture. Use lemon oil or orange oil on all wood. Use a mild soap and warm water on other furniture according to what its made of. Wash doilies and table covers.
* If you haven’t yet cleaned the nicnacs and needful items that go in your room go do that now. When they are cleaned, replace them where they go in the room.
Press and rehang curtains.
Enlist a child to organize and sort items to be stored in storage containers.
Sweep, vacuum and mop the floor depending on what you need to do. If your floors are hard, use which ever chemicals you have success with. I use a wood soap on my hardwood and then a wood shiner product made by Glade. Sometimes I even use orange oil on the floors and rub them to a deep shine. You must rub the wood very vigorously so that it won’t be slick!
Dress the bed. Its getting to be cooler here in the US so dress your bed in sheets and two quilts OR with one quilt and one blanket.
Replace rugs.
Give a child or two a good talking to about the rules of the house for keeping the room clean. Consider putting an every day rule for a 10 minutes straightening session first thing in the morning and another first thing before bed.
Apr
13
Posted by Sylvia
Today I have a devotional from last year’s Spring Cleaning session. There were a lot of responses to it and I think it is a timeless lesson from God’s Word. I hope it blesses you today…….
That Elusive Gentle Spirit
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Galatians 6:1
… let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 4:3
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29
…to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. Titus 3:2
Gentleness is one of the hallmarks of a Christian who knows Jesus and reflects His character traits. Matthew 12:20 gives us the perfect picture of how Jesus deals with us in gentleness, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, til he leads justice to victory.”
Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks are people who are hurting, spiritually weak or weak in faith. Jesus does not condemn us for our weaknesses and rule breaking, but in gentleness leads us to the place where we need to be. Not only is this Jesus’ way for dealing with his people, it is our pattern when we are dealing with others.
Paul made appeals to the church at Corinth, he didn’t demand that they obey him or Christ. In doing this he exercised the spiritual gift of Gentleness.
Genuine Christians treat others with gentleness in all areas. A Pharisee-like Christian will adhere to rules and laws in favor of offering grace in gentleness to those who are struggling. They are always asking, “Is it in line with the law?” The gentle person asks, “Is it kind or the right thing to say or do?” I’ve been in churches where the leadership nearly destroyed people with their lack of gentleness in dealing with sin and failings. But that’s not the only area where lack of gentleness is obvious.
How tactful are you in your speech? Some people think it a mark of honesty to be blunt and abrupt in their speech. Are we not to answer all people with sensitivity and consideration? I personally know people who are blunt and yet tactful and kind with their words. Often though, bluntness and lack of tact can be signs that we are impatient and thinking only of ourselves and just want to get our message out. When we think of others first, we use gentle words… no matter how desperate the situation. If you tend to be blunt and tactless, examine yourself for motives.
How gentle are you in dealing with those who fail?
How much compassion do you show those who are involved in sin?
Are you gentle with your spouse when he fails in some way?
What about that elusive Gentle Spirit? Do you have a gentle spirit? Are you, at your very core, gentle and kind? Paul compares gentleness to a mother nursing her baby. You who have nursed or bottle-fed your babies, you know what that means. You can bring back to your mind those feelings of care and protectiveness. This is the gentleness we are use in dealing with others. That amazes me! I don’t naturally feel that way toward others, do you? And because of that, the Spirit moves to give us the fruit of gentleness with His presence in our lives. He gently leads us so that we can treat others with gentleness.
If you ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of every time gentleness is needed, He will do so. First though you have to decide that you want to be gentle. You will have to let go of your love of rules and regulations. You will have to put people first, just like Jesus did if you want to care for people and show gentleness.
Philippians 4:5
“Let your gentleness be known to all.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Kitchen
We will spend two days in the kitchen.
The kitchen is usually the hardest room to Spring Clean in because we use it so much and its hard to have it out of commission for a day in some families. So I suggest that you utilize your crock pot or other means of having supper tonight so that you can concentrate on cleaning instead of breaking to cook.
Take a good look at your kitchen….. does it need:
…to be majorly decluttered? - Then you may need to take several days in this room.
…to be degreased? If you are using natural cleaners, a good mild dish soap will work wonders.
…to have structural work done? Can you clean the are and apply paint or get it ready to paint?
…to be emptied out and started over? Just kidding 
You must choose what you need to do in your kitchen today. Do you have time to devote to this project? Maybe you should not get in to a really deep, deep cleaning of the kitchen today. Perhaps you should do a medium clean. You just find your happy place and get in the groove, OK?
First Things First:
* Take out trash.
* Pick up countertops
* Take everything out of the kitchen that doesn’t go in the kitchen… use your 4 bags/boxes/baskets!
* Take down curtains - wash
* Take up rugs - wash
The kitchen can become a catch-all if you’re not careful. If your family has a habit of depositing things in the kitchen, and you’re OK with that, try to have a receptacle for all their stuff. Baskets are great for keys, change, pocket contents.
Mail really clutters up kitchen counter tops! Try using a box or basket to hold mail, both outgoing and incoming.
Move out furniture and take everything off your countertops that you possibly can. I will use my living room to store these things while I am cleaning because I have just cleaned my dining room and I don’t want to mess it up!
I will use laundry baskets to hold everything.
Two two big areas to clean in most kitchens are the refrigerator and the oven. Today we will clean the frig, tomorrow, the oven.
Here are steps to cleaning out the frig.
* Make a sink or large tub of hot soapy water.
* Empty the frig.
* Throw away outdated, old food.
* Pull out shelves and drawers that can be taken out.
* Wash all the shelves and drawers with your hot soapy water (WARNING: Don’t put a cold glass shelf or glass drawer in warm or hot water!!! Don’t ask….)
* Wipe down the inside of the frig with your natural cleaner or cleaner of choice. Rinse well.
* Wipe down gaskets and outer portions of the door, also clean the vent under the door.
* Replace drawers and shelves.
* Wipe down jars and food containers.
* Replace food.
On with the Kitchen Cleaning…………..
Next
1. Sweep down cobwebs
2. Make a sink of hot soapy water or use your chemical cleaner. Get out your rags and start washing down
3. the ceiling if needed, door frames, window frames, baseboards and walls. Wash windows.
4. Take up your rugs and put them in to wash. Take down curtains and wash.
5. Put a load of dishes in to wash while you work, or go ahead and wash all the dishes by hand.
6. Clean the top of the refrigerator, the stove exhaust hood, all large appliances. Go ahead and spray cleaner in the oven if you’re adventurous. Take out the drip pans and put them in a pan of hot soapy water to soak.
7. Clean of shelves and inside cabinets. Wash them down. Order and organize your pantry food and your pots and pans.
8. Wash inside your cabinets while they are empty.
9. Re-line cabinets if needed. Did you know that in the “old days” we used to use newspaper for this??
10. Replace everything that goes in the cabinets, washing and dusting off as you go.
11. Wash down the outside of the cabinets, use de-greaser if needed or a wood soap. Dry them and then polish them with lemon oil if they are finished wood. This is going to be the really hard, arm-breaking scrubby part for me today. My cabinets just need a really good deep scrub. But when its done, it will make the whole kitchen look better!
12. Don’t forget the areas over the stove!
13. Change your wash water if needed.
14. Wash down all the bottles, canisters, containers, etc. that sit on your counter tops.
15. Scrub the counter tops. Wash and replace the drip pans.
16. Sweep the floor. Make up your mop water and get to scrubbing. I will use a scrub brush this morning and scrub under the stove and all around the cabinets. Then I’ll mop the rest of the floor.
17. Can you move the stove and clean under it? That would probably be a good idea.
Consider setting up a Baking Center if you cook and bake a lot. I sat mine up in one of my cabinets. I put these items in the Baking Center:
Mixer
Food processor
Flours
Yeast
Baking powder and soda
Salt
Cornmeal
Shortening
Oil
Spices
You could put more in it, like measuring spoons and mixing bowls. It really is a time saver for me!
Finally…
* Put all your curtains and dry rugs back down when the floor is dry. Give the appliances one more look and a polish.
* Rearrange all your counter top things.
* Check out Robin’s thread for ideas regarding kitchen storage and organization.
* Light yourself some candles, make some tea and enjoy your kitchen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
De-Cluttering and Organizing the Kitchen
By Robin D.
Most kitchens suffer from a complete clutter overload! The clutter usually consists of at least a few of the following: gadgets, unused appliances, paper, junk drawers, etc.
Here are a few quick suggestions for dealing with some of these clutter issues.
*Work out the organization ideas in your mind, and then on paper, before you actually jump in and begin re-organizing your kitchen. That way you will be better able to decide where you want to start and what changes you want to make.
*As you organize, keep in mind you want your kitchen to “flow”. That means you don’t want to be constantly running to and fro in the kitchen when you’re cooking, serving meals, etc.
Try, as much as possible, to group items together according to their use.
For instance, you would probably want to place your coffee cups and drinking glasses in the same cupboard. ~And you would want your coffee cups near the coffee pot! Make sense?
This would be a great time to work on creating “work centers” in your kitchen.
*If you have any storage containers for things like flour, sugar, or other household goods, now would the time to make sure they’re labeled clearly.
*Take this opportunity to make a pantry inventory, spice inventory, etc.
*Too many magnets and/or paper/junk on the fridge will make any kitchen look unkempt. See if you can streamline some of these items.
*If you have metal cabinets the inside of the cabinet is a great place to use magnets and hang phone numbers, etc.
*Keep the top of your fridge clutter free. If you must store items on top, take a few moments to organize them and make the space user friendly.
*It’s not only unsightly to have a lot of clutter on your counter-tops; it also makes cleaning more difficult. Take a long hard look at your counter space and make some decisions concerning clutter and ease of use. You may need to eliminate some items and/or re-organize.
*Don’t make things harder than they have to be!
Think carefully and take a few minutes to plan before you replace your items in the cabinets after cleaning. Think “user-friendly”! Stacking is fine, but think ahead and try not to stack items you use frequently on the bottom or in the back!
*Streamline when possible. Be honest with yourself when it comes to de-cluttering.
Often there are many items in the kitchen that go unused year after year. For instance, how many of your casserole dishes do you really use?
As you organize your kitchen, are you coming across items you don’t use?
Sometimes it’s good to keep a specialty item even if it isn’t used that much. For instance, most people have a turkey platter. It’s something that you may only use a few times a year, but you do use it and need it!
On the other hand; seldom do you need eight muffin pans!
So, if there are items you no longer need or don’t want now is the time to find a new home for them. Share the wealth!
*Check your window sills. It’s easy to let clutter accumulate their as well. Too many plants, decorations, etc.
*Take a deep breath and tackle that junk drawer! (Or drawers!)
There is seldom a true need for a junk drawer. To be honest, most of the time it’s simply a “catch-all” for items we haven’t taken the time to put in their proper place. ~Or that we haven’t taken the time to create a place for.
Be brutal! Tools can be kept with the rest of their kind in the tool box. Kitchen gadgets should have their own place. Take stock of the contents and organize them! Usually there is a collection of old phone books, take-out menus, bread ties, etc. in these drawers, weed out the undesirables and organize the rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Kitchen
We will spend two days in the kitchen.
The kitchen is usually the hardest room to Spring Clean in because we use it so much and its hard to have it out of commission for a day in some families. So I suggest that you utilize your crock pot or other means of having supper tonight so that you can concentrate on cleaning instead of breaking to cook.
Take a good look at your kitchen….. does it need:
…to be majorly decluttered? - Then you may need to take several days in this room.
…to be degreased? If you are using natural cleaners, a good mild dish soap will work wonders.
…to have structural work done? Can you clean the are and apply paint or get it ready to paint?
…to be emptied out and started over? laugh.gif Just kidding wink.gif
You must choose what you need to do in your kitchen today. Do you have time to devote to this project? Maybe you should not get in to a really deep, deep cleaning of the kitchen today. Perhaps you should do a medium clean. You just find your happy place and get in the groove, OK?
First Things First:
* Take out trash.
* Pick up countertops
* Take everything out of the kitchen that doesn’t go in the kitchen… use your 4 bags/boxes/baskets!
* Take down curtains - wash
* Take up rugs - wash
The kitchen can become a catch-all if you’re not careful. If your family has a habit of depositing things in the kitchen, and you’re OK with that, try to have a receptacle for all their stuff. Baskets are great for keys, change, pocket contents.
Mail really clutters up kitchen counter tops! Try using a box or basket to hold mail, both outgoing and incoming.
Move out furniture and take everything off your countertops that you possibly can. I will use my living room to store these things while I am cleaning because I have just cleaned my dining room and I don’t want to mess it up!
I will use laundry baskets to hold everything.
Two two big areas to clean in most kitchens are the refrigerator and the oven. Today we will clean the frig, tomorrow, the oven.
Here are steps to cleaning out the frig.
* Make a sink or large tub of hot soapy water.
* Empty the frig.
* Throw away outdated, old food.
* Pull out shelves and drawers that can be taken out.
* Wash all the shelves and drawers with your hot soapy water (WARNING: Don’t put a cold glass shelf or glass drawer in warm or hot water!!! Don’t ask….)
* Wipe down the inside of the frig with your natural cleaner or cleaner of choice. Rinse well.
* Wipe down gaskets and outer portions of the door, also clean the vent under the door.
* Replace drawers and shelves.
* Wipe down jars and food containers.
* Replace food.
On with the Kitchen Cleaning…………..
Next
1. Sweep down cobwebs
2. Make a sink of hot soapy water or use your chemical cleaner. Get out your rags and start washing down
3. the ceiling if needed, door frames, window frames, baseboards and walls. Wash windows.
4. Take up your rugs and put them in to wash. Take down curtains and wash.
5. Put a load of dishes in to wash while you work, or go ahead and wash all the dishes by hand.
6. Clean the top of the refrigerator, the stove exhaust hood, all large appliances. Go ahead and spray cleaner in the oven if you’re adventurous. Take out the drip pans and put them in a pan of hot soapy water to soak.
7. Clean of shelves and inside cabinets. Wash them down. Order and organize your pantry food and your pots and pans.
8. Wash inside your cabinets while they are empty.
9. Re-line cabinets if needed. Did you know that in the “old days” we used to use newspaper for this??
10. Replace everything that goes in the cabinets, washing and dusting off as you go.
11. Wash down the outside of the cabinets, use de-greaser if needed or a wood soap. Dry them and then polish them with lemon oil if they are finished wood. This is going to be the really hard, arm-breaking scrubby part for me today. My cabinets just need a really good deep scrub. But when its done, it will make the whole kitchen look better!
12. Don’t forget the areas over the stove!
13. Change your wash water if needed.
14. Wash down all the bottles, canisters, containers, etc. that sit on your counter tops.
15. Scrub the counter tops. Wash and replace the drip pans.
16. Sweep the floor. Make up your mop water and get to scrubbing. I will use a scrub brush this morning and scrub under the stove and all around the cabinets. Then I’ll mop the rest of the floor.
17. Can you move the stove and clean under it? That would probably be a good idea.
Consider setting up a Baking Center if you cook and bake a lot. I sat mine up in one of my cabinets. I put these items in the Baking Center:
Mixer
Food processor
Flours
Yeast
Baking powder and soda
Salt
Cornmeal
Shortening
Oil
Spices
You could put more in it, like measuring spoons and mixing bowls. It really is a time saver for me!
Finally…
* Put all your curtains and dry rugs back down when the floor is dry. Give the appliances one more look and a polish.
* Rearrange all your counter top things.
* Check out Robin’s thread for ideas regarding kitchen storage and organization.
* Light yourself some candles, make some tea and enjoy your kitchen!
De-Cluttering and Organizing the Kitchen
By Robin D.
Most kitchens suffer from a complete clutter overload! The clutter usually consists of at least a few of the following: gadgets, unused appliances, paper, junk drawers, etc.
Here are a few quick suggestions for dealing with some of these clutter issues.
*Work out the organization ideas in your mind, and then on paper, before you actually jump in and begin re-organizing your kitchen. That way you will be better able to decide where you want to start and what changes you want to make.
*As you organize, keep in mind you want your kitchen to “flow”. That means you don’t want to be constantly running to and fro in the kitchen when you’re cooking, serving meals, etc.
Try, as much as possible, to group items together according to their use.
For instance, you would probably want to place your coffee cups and drinking glasses in the same cupboard. ~And you would want your coffee cups near the coffee pot! Make sense?
This would be a great time to work on creating “work centers” in your kitchen.
*If you have any storage containers for things like flour, sugar, or other household goods, now would the time to make sure they’re labeled clearly.
*Take this opportunity to make a pantry inventory, spice inventory, etc.
*Too many magnets and/or paper/junk on the fridge will make any kitchen look unkempt. See if you can streamline some of these items.
*If you have metal cabinets the inside of the cabinet is a great place to use magnets and hang phone numbers, etc.
*Keep the top of your fridge clutter free. If you must store items on top, take a few moments to organize them and make the space user friendly.
*It’s not only unsightly to have a lot of clutter on your counter-tops; it also makes cleaning more difficult. Take a long hard look at your counter space and make some decisions concerning clutter and ease of use. You may need to eliminate some items and/or re-organize.
*Don’t make things harder than they have to be!
Think carefully and take a few minutes to plan before you replace your items in the cabinets after cleaning. Think “user-friendly”! Stacking is fine, but think ahead and try not to stack items you use frequently on the bottom or in the back!
*Streamline when possible. Be honest with yourself when it comes to de-cluttering.
Often there are many items in the kitchen that go unused year after year. For instance, how many of your casserole dishes do you really use?
As you organize your kitchen, are you coming across items you don’t use?
Sometimes it’s good to keep a specialty item even if it isn’t used that much. For instance, most people have a turkey platter. It’s something that you may only use a few times a year, but you do use it and need it!
On the other hand; seldom do you need eight muffin pans!
So, if there are items you no longer need or don’t want now is the time to find a new home for them. Share the wealth!
*Check your window sills. It’s easy to let clutter accumulate their as well. Too many plants, decorations, etc.
*Take a deep breath and tackle that junk drawer! (Or drawers!)
There is seldom a true need for a junk drawer. To be honest, most of the time it’s simply a “catch-all” for items we haven’t taken the time to put in their proper place. ~Or that we haven’t taken the time to create a place for.
Be brutal! Tools can be kept with the rest of their kind in the tool box. Kitchen gadgets should have their own place. Take stock of the contents and organize them! Usually there is a collection of old phone books, take-out menus, bread ties, etc. in these drawers, weed out the undesirables and organize the rest.
