Cleaning Up

Great news...my house is clean! I'm sure you couldn't possibly care less, but it sure makes me happy! But wait, it gets even better. I didn't have to clean it! For the last couple of months we have had a very nice young lady named Ginny coming to clean every other week. I can't tell you what a huge help that has been. It has gotten harder for me to keep up with it, and even though the girls help out, they're not good with deep-down scrubbing and Joey has had to carry way too much of the load.

Yesterday was Ginny's fourth time here, and when I walked into my clean house in the afternoon it just felt so good. There was no clutter (because I ran around in a frenzy in the morning trying to declutter so she could actually find the surfaces), no dirt, and no stress that is usually brought on by the sight of all the mess and not having time or energy to clean it! It was so free-ing and I felt so grateful.

The first time Ginny came was actually somewhat embarrassing. The place was so dirty that it took her about 5 hours to get it all scrubbed down, and that was after another lady had already spent a day cleaning several weeks before. Both of them assured me that it was definitely not the worst they had seen, but I have my doubts! :)

After those initial visits, things have definitely gotten better. Now that the layers of grime have been removed, Ginny gets the job done in about three hours. We're also getting better about not letting things pile up so that even the pre-cleaning de-cluttering goes faster as well.

As I woke up to my nice clean room this morning, the Lord showed me a parallel to the sin in my life. Ouch! Not something I want to think about when I'm trying to start a new day in my nice clean house. As I stepped into my clean shower, God let me know that no amount of scrubbing my body could do anything about any grimy build-up in my heart. I can hire someone to beautify my house. I can hire someone to give me a pedicure or put highlights in my hair to beautify my physical appearance, but only the Lord can beautify my heart. Only he can strip away the layers of grime or guilt or sin or shame.

Hebrews 12:11 says "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

I truly detest cleaning. For me, it is absolute drudgery. I guess that's why this parallel made so much sense to me. I submit to the torture (okay, so I'm a little dramatic) of house-cleaning when I have to, and it is always nice to see the finished product. In the same way, when the Lord needs to root out some sin in my life or do a little heart-cleaning, it is never a pleasant process. But I have to admit that it is much more free-ing than even having a clean house, and I am oh-so-very grateful that he loves me enough to do it.