Housework is what a woman does that nobody notices unless she hasn't done it. ~Evan Esar
On my blog entry "The Decluttering of Me," I stated I was determined to work on decluttering my home. I formulated a rough plan to work on it a bit every day. I can get a bit compulsive when I make up my mind to clean up my home, to the point that I will forget or put off all else, becoming completely exhausted.This time I am determined not to get obsessive about it, because that does not change the habit of allowing it to get the point that it feels overwhelming. My goal is to change some habits. So, with that in mind, I cleaned up the kitchen and the bathrooms over time. I even cleaned the inside of the oven! It is not that amazing that I cleaned--as there is an amazing part to all this--but that in the three weeks since I have kept what I had cleaned in good shape with nice clean surfaces, while beginning to work on other rooms or just small areas a bit at a time and I am not exhausted! My office area is slowly getting decluttered so I feel better about working at my desk. It is working so far.
Previously, I would clean and clean and clean, be exhausted for days, possibly with a back pain flare up so I was unable to maintain it or treat myself by not cleaning and let it all build up again to that overwhelming state. This time I am determined to make a lasting change.
I have to admit that I have been using a crutch: FlyLady. I cannot say that I do it exactly the way suggested, but I find the website to be highly motivating. Now I actually look at those pockets of clutter instead of ignoring them. I now consider how I feel when I look around a room. If something is not making me feel good about what I see, I pick it up to put away or give away or throw away.
I was planning to have a yard sale, although we have found yard sales to do poorly here compared to were we lived in Florida, but our church is having a rummage sale in a couple of weeks to raise money for our building plans. Here is where I struggle with giving...yet again. Unless I have a yard sale this weekend, which of course I did not plan to do, I would not be able to have one before the church has its own. I was hoping sell some things to put that money toward our debt and then give what did not sell to the church, which is in a higher traffic area, however that will not really work now. On the other hand, I cannot possibly go through everything to put in the church rummage sale so it is likely that I will still need to have a yard sale later on. Knowing how poor yard sales do here, they rarely seem worth the effort, but with the change in the economy, it could be different this time.
What to do? I suppose I should pray, as always!
My Lord, I struggle so much with giving, yet I ask You to give even now. Please give me wisdom about knowing when and what to give and peace in doing so.
