31 days to Clean: Day 20 – 25

Confession time – this week was really easy for me cleaning wise. It was basically the bathrooms and then touch up work in the office.  Back in Nov/Dec as we prepared for Amelie to join our family I spent LITERALLY dozens of hours in our home office cleaning and organizing. We combined our home office and guest room to make a room for her. So both closets had to be completely cleaned out and both rooms furniture combined into one. I shredded the documents in 11 – that’s right ELEVEN – file folder size boxes. So many documents!  It was 9 trash bags full of shredding by the end. Now I only have the most important documents that we need and they are in nice labeled boxes. Everything in the desk was cleaned out and sorted.

I also keep everything for the KIDS HOPE USA program that I run for my church in this room. File folders, craft supplies, school supplies and other goodies are all organized on one side of the desk. Here is a photo once I did all the “home office” Martha Challenges.

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The devotions this week were great for me! So many good and useful topics and really great quotes & Bible verses for encouragement. She talked about Time, making a workable schedule and more. One of my favorite things she talked about was organization. Over the years many people have told me that I am the most organized person that they know. I thrive on being busy, but so I don’t feel overwhelmed I need order. Don’t get the wrong idea, I am not OCD. But when I have opened the cabinets over the last few weeks and everything is tidy and in its proper place, I have felt peace. When I have been able to walk in the pantry and grab what I needed because all the baking stuff is together and the pasta stuff is together, I have felt peace. When I have looked at the list on the freezer door to see what’s inside to decide what to make for lunch or dinner, I have felt peace.

When you aren’t wasting time looking for stuff then you have more time with your family and the chance to do fun stuff instead of grinding away each day.

She said, “The Lord created the universe with order. Each star, planet, animal and rock has a purpose. The world is not haphazard, unrelated or disorganized.” Ah, I loved this!