Clean & Organized

One of my big goals when I went to part-time was to do that really in depth cleaning where you throw tons of stuff away because it's just taking up space and you don't use it. It makes me giddy with excitement even thinking about how pretty it looks.

I'm always amazed at how much I can throw away even when my house looks clean and tidy! I have slowly begun to take on the task of major closet, cupboard, and drawer cleaning. Yesterday I worked on my pantry and lazy susan. To my dismay I found a few things I bought, obviously intending to use in a recipe but never did, and the expiration date was llloooonnnnggg past. After I finished with all my tossing, combining, and reorganization, I stepped back and just stared at the materpieces. It was a sight to behold, let me tell you. Looks a little bare but everything I now have I know I will use and the clutter of extra cans and boxes is gone! Just like that!

I couldn't wait for Steve to get home so I could show him. He feigned interest but I know better. He said "wow, you're quite the organizer" as I bubbled around him exclaiming "I KNOW!" The truth is it doesn't matter to him either way. But me? I'm pretty sure I slept better last night knowing how clean and organized my pantry was!

But just so you know I'm not entirely over the edge, there really is a spiritual aspect too. I've been thinking a lot lately about how easy it is to clutter my life with all sorts of things I will either never use or while I have intentions of using, I never do. I also bring in all those "expired" things, long past, and torment myself with them. In the midst of that, it's easy for me to forget the saying "Keep the main thing, the main thing."

I think often I need to not only take a few hours one afternoon to clean my closets of junk but also to clean my heart and mind of the junk I'm storing there too. The results will be far greater and mean so much more when someone says "wow, you're quite the organizer!"

Here's a couple of verses that speak to this. One speaks of cleaning (throwing off) and the other of forgetting what is behind. See, I told you I could tie in a spiritual implication.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." ~ Hebrews 12:1

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 3:13-14