Create in me a CLEAN HEART!

We have company coming to visit tomorrow so I have been cleaning the house like mad. I hate housework! I love being a stay-at-home-mom and I love being a home maker, but I hate the housekeeping part of it all. Why can't I just care for my babes, cook the meals, sew cute outfits for the girlies (not that I actually do this, but I want to!), bake cookies and come up with creative ways to make each day special for my family. Why do I also have to clean the bathrooms, clean up after I cook or bake, do laundry (my most hated chore!), vacuum, mop, change the sheets, etc.

Because I don't always have a neat and tidy home, it makes me feel like I don't have a solid foundation. Since my "core" feels disorganized, that feeling flows into other areas of my life. I feel like if I can't start something and finish it to completion and do it perfectly, why try?? Like cleaning. I've really been struggling with this since I've become a stay-at-home-mom, my dream job. I thought once I started staying home, all of this would come naturally. I was wrong.

I've been praying about this lately but couldn't put my finger on what was making me feel and act this way. Well, I came across a weekly devotional called Create in me a Clean Heart and it hits the nail on the head! I've only just started the devotional, and my transformation, but Amy says the reason we have this problem is becasue we're selfish! I think that is true of me, I'm more worried about how I feel and if I'll complete the task at hand than I am about how my messiness affects my family. Amy gives weekly memory verses and this weeks (week 1 -- like I said, I JUST started) is Proverebs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight".

I learned this verse years ago, it was on our Steve Green children's CD (geez, if I remember a verse from that 15+ years later, thats pretty awesome, I have to get that CD for my girlies!). But the verse never spoke to me like it does now. Amy advises us to make that verse our daily prayer, ask God to direct our paths throughout the day. I've done that this week and feel like I've accomplished more this week than I have in months! Even days that have been filled with taking care of the girls, I still feel a sense of accomplishment because God IS directing my paths, sometimes I'm lead to clean and sometimes I'm lead to care for and spend time with my girls.

If you're in the same boat I am, take a look at Amy's website and download, for free, her devotional. Its as simple as they come, a very short (less than one page) weekly devotional, prayer and memory verse. I'm thrilled she has memory verses, I want more of God's word hidden in my heart. I've wanted that for a long time but haven't spent time on it. Its one of my new focuses.

If you download it and are going to read through it with me, let me know by commenting below!

~jct