If there is one thing that causes me to remember my childhood, it is having a clean house. My mother worked two jobs, had two kids, and two dogs, and maintained a spotless house. I can’t count the times I heard company comment about how spotless our house was. I heard comments such as, “How do you keep your house so clean with kids?” “You can eat off these floors!” “You must dust daily!” There were rooms we weren’t allowed to enter, couches we weren’t allowed to sit on, and a killer stereo we weren’t allowed to touch!
So much has changed since then. My mom allows my daughter access into any room. She is now a “grandma” and having a spotless house is no longer the priority. My mom has since fallen in love with Jesus and people are now more important than a clean house. Oh, her house is still spotless by any normal measuring stick, but her house is now lived in.
Today, there is nothing like company to motivate me to clean. I too enjoy a clean, clutter free, spotless house. I should have company more often with the way it makes me spring clean (whether spring, summer, fall, or winter)! It is a part of my mother that I gladly accept. I like a clean house. However, motivation eludes me all too often. But all it takes is the knowledge of company.
And so it is with my spiritual house. I want a clean spirit. As David said, “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God.” I’m still looking for a balance between “squeaky clean” and a “lived in- keep it real” feel. My prayer lately has been that God will help me to be real with Him, not for His sake, He knows me better than I know myself, but for my sake. If I am real with Him, I can start allowing Him to heal those parts of my life, those dark and scary rooms that I have shut everyone out of, including my daughter and my husband. I want a clean house that allows the people closest to me in every room. Whether in the natural, or in the spiritual, I want my house to be a home.
