HOW TO LEARN TO LOVE CLEANING with CLEANING MOTIVATION

When it comes to cleaning I sometimes feel like a hopeless case. I know that is absolutely not true. As long as I am alive there is always hope!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

 I just cannot seem to keep up with all of the clutter in this house! There are six of us living in a two bedroom house. I know there are smaller homes with more people living in them in different countries and i try to remind myself (and my kids) of that fact often. The difference is that as Americans, we tend to accumulate a LOT of stuff. I am trying to reset our minds on this but for now I just cannot stay on top of it!

help me

I have been praying recently that the Lord would give me divine wisdom in this area. I have found that when I pray for divine wisdom the Lord will allow me to find it.

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

If there is one thing I have experienced over and over in my life it is that God is faithful and He always proves Himself true to His Word. I have asked Him over and over for wisdom in different areas and He has continually provided that to me in some form or fashion. God is always faithful.

We had such an amazing experience cleaning together, we prayed, we hustled, WE DID IT!!!

So proud of this girl. She's amazing. So thankful I get to be her mom.

I have started the process of decluttering our home (again, yall).  I was looking for some tips and inspiration when I found the YouTuber that I linked below. Her name is LoveMeg and she has the most inspirational cleaning videos and tips! I'm so grateful and inspired and I do attribute this to answered prayer. 

I love that the Proverbs 31 Woman is mentioned in the video below. If you are struggling like I am I recommend you give this video a quick look and hope you find some inspiration. In the meantime, I am decluttering my home and car and plan to chronicle the journey so that my children and I can look back on it and see how far we have (hopefully) come some day!

Meg says:

1. Tell yourself you love cleaning.

2. Make cleaning enjoyable

3. Get your body moving

4. Find amazing role models

5. Strive to be a Virtuous Woman

She goes into all of these tips in the video below. Some things I find very motivating that are not mentioned are to

1. Begin with the end in mind. I love to picture the peaceful and clean space that we will enjoy once we are finished.

2. I always set a timer. Somehow a timer keeps me on track and encourages me to work for a set amount of time.

3. Use cleaning products I love and that smell wonderful. I love using Mrs. Meyers cleaning products (I love the Basil scent) as well as the Young Living Thieves Spray. Both have a fresh and invigorating fragrance that bring me joy while I am cleaning.

4. Ask for help. When I ask for help and remind my kids that we can clean for ten minutes and have the reward of a beautiful home they are usually willing to help, especially if I tell them we will only clean for ten minutes. If the get the ball rolling it is easier for me to keep going (remember, an object in motion tends to stay in motion). Even if we only clean for ten minutes at least we are that much closer to a clean home than if we hadn't cleaned at all. 

5. Designate duties. I will find the hardest task and start working on it first. Then I designate the smaller and easier tasks to my children. For instance, if here is a sink full of dishes, I will start on those and while my kids can see me doing the hard thing first, I then ask them to do the small things. I ask one to sweep, one to wipe off counters, another to take out trash and the last one to put toys away. 

And now for some inspiration from Megan:

I hope you are encouraged and remember that God is with you on your journey.

So satisfying!

Grace & peace,

Adoring Family