Housekeeping by Jewels From The Word

Some jobs just never seem to get done--like cleaning the top of the refrigerator or the top of the range vent hood.

Nearly every time I cook, I stand looking at the dust and grime on top of the range hood and think, Next time I do the dishes, and wipe down the stove, I’ll scrub that hood.” I suppose you know how that turns out. The next time I cook supper I see it again, but I can’t clean it then because the cleaner would fall into the food I have cooking on the stove.

Keeping a clean house requires constant work. Just ask any mother.

When my first child was 6 weeks old and I had to go back to work, I decided if I could walk across my kitchen floor without my shoes sticking to it, it was clean enough. When my son started crawling, I had to revise my cleaning standards and keep the floor cleaner, so I let the upper level dusting go. As long as you couldn’t write your name in the dust, it was okay by me.

After I had my second child, I was involved in church and school activities, and worked out of town, so something had to slide. As long as we had clean clothes to wear, clean dishes to eat out of, and the main living areas were company-ready, I considered the house clean.

Now that the kids are grown, I’m still busy, and I do pretty well at keeping things clean. The house is still cluttered, mostly with books & other reading material, my table is always cluttered, and I don’t do very well at dusting, but the public area of my home is mostly presentable.

Now that I’m older, I try to encourage the younger women.

“The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- That they may admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, . . ..that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” Titus 2:3-5NKJV

What a privilege to teach others the lessons we have learned.