Most of the time this time of the year I start Spring Cleaning, so the time came this year as well. I lot of the times I have a plan that I follow, but this year I wanted something new, so I went on the internet and did a search. I found a lot of interesting things , but this Challenge appealed to me the most.
I would like to take this time and invite all of you to follow me on this challenge of Proverbs Spring Cleaning. Every Day exept Sunday I will be posting new things, so watch out for them. Hope and pray that you will take this challenge and organize, decluter and clean your homes.
May the Lord be with you all through this Challenge!
Posted by Sylvia
Godliness isn’t A “Given”
By Sylvia Britton
“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather train yourself to be godly.”
1 Timothy 4:7
“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.”
1 Timothy 6:11
“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.”
Proverbs 21:21
If godliness was a ‘given’ when we become Christians, then Paul would never have been so interested in encouraging his spiritual son, Timothy, to be godly. He wrote to Timothy and told him to ‘train yourself to be godly.’
Many of Paul’s letters used terms and phrases from athletics. So he used the term ‘train’ which means discipline or exercise in this particular letter. As we get moving in our Spring Cleaning chores, I guess we feel like we’re exercising for sure! But Paul is interested in exercise of a different kind.
Here is what you must know to train yourself to be godly:
*Whose growth?
*Why grow?
*What is necessary?
Paul is explicit in telling Timothy, “train yourself in godliness”. You can train your children or your Sunday school class in the rudiments of good behavior. But you can only train yourself to be godly and that only through God’s grace.
Godliness must be pursued.
What is godliness? Being like God in our choices, thoughts and deeds….having a desire for God in our lives, fear of God. Ministry and doing things is great if done in God’s name. But the aim of growth that Paul talked about to Timothy is growth in our walk with God, growth in our inner woman.
What do you need for growth? In one word: Commitment. The idea and concept of Commitment runs throughout the whole Bible. Its found in God’s own Words when He tells His people that He will take care of them IF they will obey Him. It is inferred in the Words of such verses as Hebrews 12:14…. “Make every effort to be holy.”
Do you have the commitment needed to run the race? Are you ready to grow and train yourself in godliness? Your race for godliness starts….. now.
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DISCLAIMER: I have to tell you….I don’t know what is in your home, don’t know what your furniture, rugs, curtains, floors are made of….. so you will have to take responsibility for making decisions about what methods to use to clean some of these things. If I say wash your curtains and your fall apart… you probably should have read the label!
You might have better success today if you print this out and take it with you. Then, just come back during the day when you are taking a break to read and see what everyone else is doing. If you are participating in the Spring Cleaning, try to stay away from the computer today unless you are breaking or of course unless you are done! You might also want to print out the natural cleaner formulas if you will be using them.
The Master Bedroom
You will probably want to use an all-purpose cleaner, window cleaner and a good furniture oil for this room.
Now, you may have other things that need to be done in your bedroom, but these are the essentials of a thorough cleaning and decluttered/organized bedroom.
First - Take down curtains and wash them if you are able. If you cannot wash them, hang them outside to air. Be sure not to hang them in full sun if you think they may fade.
Second - Strip the bed linens and put them in to wash or in the laundry room.
Turn the mattress if you are able….. but don’t hurt yourself for goodness sake!
Third - Hang up and put away all clothes or laundry. Yes….. I can see in your bedroom today! If there are clothes that need to be put in someone else’s room, do it. If there are clothes that need to be stored, store them. If there are clothes that need to go to GoodWill, take them!
If you just don’t have any way to store those clothes, get rid of some of them! Let’s also see if anyone has some good ideas for impromptu storage techniques… If you do, speak up while we clean this room.
Fourth - Get yourself three baskets, boxes or bags. Label these containers:
Throw Away
Give Away
Put Away
Walk around your room and put everything that you don’t want in the room in one of these boxes.
When this is done…
Find a fourth box…. put all your trinkets, doo-dads and nicnacs that you are going to keep in this box (think about getting rid of some of these! ). Put your alarm clock, pictures, wall decor, everything that will stay in the room. Place this box in the dining room or kitchen. You can enlist a child to dust and clean these items or save this for yourself for later.
Fifth - Pull everything out of the closet. Oh yes, the closet. Pull it all OUT. All of it. Everything. Now go through it quickly and put each item in one of your four boxes. Hang up clothes and sort them into the boxes quickly. Don’t take too much time with this. If you have not worn the item in 2 years, toss it or give it away.
If an item you pull out of your closet does not belong in the closet, if the closet is not where you really should store it, then move it to its rightful place. If you don’t have anywhere else for this item, then its rightful place is the closet. Only you know.
Dust, sweep and clean the inside of the closet. Rehang the clothes. Arrange the contents of the closet that are going back in it, correctly and neatly. Robin will probably have some ideas for storage and organizational issues…
Sixth - Clean out from under the bed. Pull it all out, divide the under-bed contents into your four boxes. Sweep and mop under the bed when everything is moved out from under it.
There are lots of good ideas for under-bed storage. Those bed risers that I talk about every year are really a handy thing to have.
It can give you up to 10 inches of space to store things. They cost about $ 8.95 - $14.95 for four of them. This is one of the best investments for the household I have ever made. I bought mine at Linen’s and Things. Flat plastic boxes are great for under the bed too.
Seventh - We’re on the home stretch! Dust the ceilings, tops of windows and door frames, and walls. If you walls are dirty and you want to wash them, go for it! Use a mild detergent or soap and warm water if you have painted walls. If you have wallpaper, you will want to use a barely damp sponge and a drying towel. Work from the top of the wall down to the floor. If you have carpet, cover it!
Now to the Nitty Gritty Cleaning of the Room:
*Wash the windows. Use my homemade window cleaner or what ever you have on hand. Use newspaper to dry them for a streak free shine!
*Clean up the window frames now and dry them well.
*Clean the baseboards with a soapy solution of mild dish soap and warm water or your natural cleaner
*Dust all furniture. Use lemon oil or orange oil on all wood. Use a mild soap and warm water on other furniture according to what its made of. Wash doilies and table covers.
*If you haven’t yet cleaned the nicnacs and needful items that go in your room go do that now. When they are cleaned, replace them where they go in the room.
*Think about adding a doilie or a table skirt to soften the room. Think about what you use to make the room a pleasant place to be with your husband or just to go to relax.
*Press and rehang your curtains.
*Sweep, vacuum and mop the floor depending on what you need to do. If your floors are hard, use which ever chemicals you have success with. I use a wood soap on my hardwood and then a wood shiner product made by Glade. Sometimes I even use orange oil on the floors and rub them to a deep shine. You must rub the wood very vigorously so that it won’t be slick!
*Dress the bed. Its getting to be cooler here in the US so dress your bed in sheets and two quilts OR with one quilt and one blanket. Think about getting a skirt to hide the under bed contents. I found a white cotton one at Good Will for $3.49 !
*Replace rugs
Light a candle and enjoy!
Here is some information on decluttering the bedroom from Robin……………….
Decluttering the Bedroom
by Robin D
The main bedroom is often the only place to find any “alone” time.
However, the bedroom is often the first place to be used as a “dumping ground”. It’s not uncommon to find laundry that needs to be put away, books that need to be shelved, craft projects, etc.
All that clutter isn’t conducive to attaining a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.
The guest room is another place that often catches the clutter. Try not to begin the habit of using your guest room as a storage room with boxes of stuff everywhere and clothes thrown across the bed.
It should look as tidy and homey as the other bedrooms. You want it to make guests feel welcome and comfortable.
Now, what are some things we can focus on?
Here are some things to keep in mind and also to jumpstart us and get us going!
*Organize as you go. Pick up and deal with clutter!
Take this opportunity to go through any storage bins you have under ther bed. Throw out what you don’t need, organize and label the rest.
*Check to see if any castors or rubber floor protectors are needed under the feet of the bed, dressers, etc. Metal frame beds can be especially harsh on wood floors.
*If you store items under the bed using a bed skirt/ruffle will usually hide them.
And, take this time to go through these stored items and de-clutter. This is also a good time to move items if needed and clearly label storage bins/boxes before replacing them. Make a storage list if needed. That way you know what’s under there and you don’t have to go on a digging expedition for anything!
*Bedside tables and dressers.
Take everything out/off and de-clutter if needed. Sort and organize before replacing items you’ve decided to keep.
If you keep any medicines in your bedside tablel you may want to consider child-proofing the drawers/doors.
Are their items in your dresser that should be hung instead of folded?
*Closets.
Evaluate them, make a plan, and GO!
Everything should have a place, even if it’s in (well labeled) storage bins/containers.
Consider a “closet makeover”! Closets don’t have to look like a dumping ground. They can be painted or papered, organized and neat. The more time you take now to make your closets user friendly and attractive the better you’ll do at upkeep.
*Odds-N-Ends.
~The quick 10 minute pick-up rule is great in these rooms too! Just a few minutes a day can add up to big changes!
~Most of the time 2 sets of sheets per bed are all you need. One set is on the bed and the other can be stored between the mattress and box spring for easy out of the way storage.
~Here’s a link to explain how to fold a fitted sheet.
Folding a Fitted Sheet
~Making your bed can be easier and quicker if you learn to make one side at a time.
~Here’s a Yahoo! link where you can read a little bit about thread counts (in regard to bed linens). It’s not the best of info, but it’s all I’ve found so far.
Thread counts
~Here’s a link to read about different bed linens.
Bed Linens 101
~Here’s a link to read about quilt storage.
Quilt Care
Here are a few more tidbits you might find useful from Deborah Tukua’s book, “Pearls of Country Wisdom.”
~An upright trunk makes a great bedside table and provides an inside storage space of 3 feet deep.
~Dresser drawers stick? Rub a moist bar of soap across the runners to help it glide easier.
~Has the life gone out of your mattress? No money for a new one? Extend the life of your mattress by purchasing an egg crate foam mattress covering. It’s much cheaper than buying a new mattress, usually around $12.00, yet adds plush comfort to your bedding for at least another year.
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