Super Mom the Illusion: Spring Cleaning: Bedroom Edition

Cleaning, Decluttering, and Organizing the Most Intimate Area of Our Lives

This series has been all about Spring Cleaning various areas of our homes and our spiritual homes as well. Today, we're discussing the bedroom. The bedroom is a unique area in our home because it's often the least room visited by guests. Why is that? Maybe because it's the most intimate and private room in our homes. Maybe because it holds baskets of laundry that we just couldn't get put away yet this week. Or maybe because there are simply things in there that we don't want others to see. Let's see what we can do to make those areas more visible, organized, and ready for visitors!

Every morning I get up and make the bed. It's just what I've gotten in the habit of doing for the past 10 years. I am a fan of FlyLady.net and that was one of the daily home blessings that I began to do. And some days, it was sort of difficult! The baby hadn't slept through the night, so I was tired, and I didn't want to make the bed just to fold the sheets down and take a nap while the baby slept. Well, that was my excuse anyway. I'm telling you, though, that if you will take the time to daily make your bed, your room will feel more inviting to you and, if you're married, to your husband. Making the bed is similar to reading a chapter of Scripture or a daily devotional. It is a great start to your day and sets the tone for the remaining hours before the family comes back together for the evening meal. So stop making excuses and just do it!

What excuses might you be using for not making the bed?
what excuses might we be making for not taking time for devotions?

In our bedroom, my husband and I each have a bedside stand. Often, this becomes the catcher of all things that I don't want to take time to put away or throw away or things I don't really have a home for. So I start to sort through each piece of jewelry, each ponytail holder, and each piece of paper I have unloaded on that little stand. I do the same for my husband's stand, tidying up these two areas before moving on. They seem kind of insignificant, but if they get cluttered, everyone notices and nothing can be easily found when needed. In our spiritual life, this might look like attitudes we've carried throughout the day or emotions we've continued to suppress and bottle up. But others notice when we're cluttered with other things, thoughts, emotions, and rebellious feelings that we don't need to hang on to.

Next, I focus on laundry and the dresser. Now laundry is an on-going process in our house of eight, but how easy is it to cut corners and stuff those clean clothes in the drawer (again, where few others actually see!) and not devote some time to folding and putting them away? It is a blessing to my husband when he pulls open his drawer to get ready in the morning and his clothes are folded with care. It is sort of my way of honoring his work outside the home by doing my housework to the best of my ability.

What ways can you bless others by the work you do?
What ways have you cut corners in your work thinking no one notices?

The final thing, as we've discussed with each room so far, is to remember the floor. It is the foundation of the room, it does matter if it is not dusted, vacuumed, or mopped (depending on what type of flooring material you have.). Think about how your room would look if the bed were made, the tables and stands cleared and organized, but the floor had not been vacuumed. Would the room still look as lovely? Probably not. If any of these areas we've looked at today were left undone, the rest of the room wouldn't look as nice. In our walk with the Lord, if we can quote Scripture, pray, read devotions, but we talk badly about others, what does that say about us? As much as we may look like Christians up until that point, as soon as that little speck of dirty gossip comes out of our mouths, the rest of our image is defiled and looks bad, too

Let's make a point this week in our bedrooms to make the bed, clear out the clutter, take time folding the laundry, and vacuuming the floor. And in our walk with the Lord, let's not stop short, but finish all the aspects of an intimate relationship with Him. Let's make a commitment to spend time in prayer, read daily devotions, stop making excuses for why we can't, bless others, and stop trying to take short cuts!

Have a blessed week!