If cleanliness is next to Godliness..

then, man, am I in trouble!

I have struggled this summer with keeping upon housework. I'm just not a great housekeeper and for some reason, it seems worse this summer.

I don't know whether it's the addition of a certain three year old or the addition of a certain husband but the laundry and dishes are always heaped up.

I usually am really good about the "handle papers only once rule" but again, I just seem to find paperwork piles laying around. (I try hard to immediately file, through, etc. any papers that enter the door, if you're wondering what rule I'm talking about.)

The dog hair just seems to have a mind of its own and right now, I think it's laughing at me. Vacuuming seems to be a futile effort.

I used to think "at least there isn't a funky smell" but after seeing a current commercial that asserts "80% of people can't smell the odors in their own homes" I'm feeling a little concerned.

I suppose it's mostly the clutter that is really the issue. I've got crafty stuff out. And a couple piles of books that I've been wanting to read. D's still got some left over soccer items that haven't quite found their homes. Plus the usual stuff like a bucket full of underwear and socks that I managed to turn a dingy gray after washing them with a rag rug. So now I'm trying to bleach them back to white. The kids? Well, on any given day, who knows what they have out? For some reason today we had to get all of our winter clothing out. At least the clothing they could find. I think it all started because Kenson uncovered a pair of cowboy boots and to borrow a line from a story, if you give a child a pair of cowboy boots it will remind the other child that she has no cowboy boots but she does have snow boots, which she'll want to drag out. And if she drags out her snow boots, she's going to need a fur lined bomber hat to keep her head warm. If you let her wear the hat, her arms will get awfully cold in the 90 degree weather so she'll start digging through the baskets, looking for her coat. And chances are, if she finds her coat...

I guess the housekeeping thing is one thing that kind of surprises me about women. For some reason, women are very reluctant to be real with each other regarding the state of their homes. In other words, we really don't like unexpected guests because of our laundry piled on the table or our floor that happens to have a couple Cheerios shoved into one corner. (I wish it were only a couple of Cheerios on my floor.) Why we are so sensitive about this, I just don't know. Generally speaking, there are a lot more women with imperfect homes with the level of cleanliness ranging from slightly messy to a lot more than slightly messy. Dishes, laundry, clutter-all houses have it and it's usually not tucked neatly away.

One thing I've come to appreciate are a few friends who have always welcomed me into their homes despite their home not being immaculate. Sometimes, their house wasn't anywhere even close to even sort of clean. I think having friends who were willing not pay attention to the flawless house myth has made it easier for me to authentically share my house with others who happen to pop in or even those whom I was expecting. I also read somewhere that when we hurry to clean our homes because of a guest, it usually creates high stress situations within our families. That those high stress situations really are sending an important message to our kids, that our life is not okay the way it is so we'd better hurry and get things straightened up before so-and-so sees it. It discourages authenticity and instead fosters a belief that we must present ourselves perfect or that we must show others at least in some semblence of what is acceptable in order for those people to like us.

So today as you consider your house and the never ending tasks that go with the blessing of having a house, remember that cleanliness is not next to Godliness despite your Aunt Mabel's adament stance. Instead count your home as a gift from God, something He has entrusted you with, not simply so you could keep up appearances but so you could love on others by inviting them and sharing your life with them.