January 2019 – The Self Cleaning House

cleaning, family, happiness, organizing, spiritual

Blessed

Posted on January 31, 2019February 5, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

We are BLESSED! We are so very blessed that our homes are full to bursting. We are so blessed that we have garages and sheds and storage units to hold it all!

We are so blessed that I think we sometimes forget what it means to really need anything. I have several coats and jackets, but there is one that I really want at Target. I have a lot of really cute boots….but I know there is a pair with my name on it at Kohls!

We are so blessed that our closet rod is sagging in the middle…. I know, ’cause mine is. Yet there are people in our own towns that don’t even have a coat. Can you imagine what a difference your “extra” stuff could make for someone in need?

I am not for a minute suggesting that you don’t deserve to buy things or have nice things just because there are people going without. I believe that if you earned the money to afford it then you most definitely deserve it! I am suggesting that we all get rid of our “extra blessings”. What good is a sweatshirt that you have not worn for seven years, hanging in your closet? What if we took all those things to women’s shelters or homeless shelters? What a blessing it would be to them!

I was reading a devotion by Rick Warren. I will link it here, but I am going to share a portion of it with you. I encourage you to go and read the whole thing. It’s not lengthy.

Empty Hands Receive Greater Blessings

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:11, “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (NIV).
What an amazing verse! God makes you rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion, which will result in thanksgiving to God.
God doesn’t bless you so you can be greedy; he blesses you so you can be generous. You give away, and God gives back to you so you can give more away and he can give more back to you and on and on and on. God doesn’t give you things so you can pile them up. When you let go of what’s in your hand, it’s now empty to receive greater blessings from God.
But as I’ve said before, God’s giving to you is based on your attitude. That’s why it’s so important to live with an attitude of gratitude.
Rick Warren

I just love that! “Empty Hands Receive Great Blessings”! I am so excited to continue to let go of my excess blessings so that God can continue to bless me so that I can bless others!

Let’s not ever forget to be grateful for all the things we have and to never be dissatisfied because we don’t have the best car or pretty carpet or the newest phone. Let’s choose to be grateful for all our overflowing blessings! We ARE truly blessed.

Let’s continue to be grateful for what we have, declutter our lives and homes of our “extra” and bless others in the process so that God can continually bless us. What a wonderful win-win!

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
NIV

Blessings! XOXO

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Below is a link where you can check it out! Please feel free to message me with questions!

CBD Oil What it is and how it works in our bodies

I just pulled out my copy of Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”. It has been many years since I have read it and after finding the above passage I felt I wanted to read this book again. I highly recommend it! If you would like a copy for yourself click on the image below to purchase from Amazon! You will be supporting me at no extra cost to you! Thank you!

cleaning, family, organizing, routines, Tips and Tricks

You Don’t Need Money to be Organized

Posted on January 24, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

Boxes. Cardboard boxes. Sometimes taped together to make a particular shape. A shoebox, a cereal box cut to the right height, toilet paper tubes taped together.

When I was newly married we had next to nothing. Then we had three children and had even less. But we managed! I didn’t have money to spend on Rubbermaid boxes or cute baskets to organize my things. It really never crossed my mind! I just made do with what I had to organize our things. So cardboard, packing tape, and yogurt containers were often used as “organizational tools”.

I share this to say, don’t wait until you can find the right baskets or till you can afford the containers for the pantry. Declutter, see what you have left, decide what shape and size things you need and then find a shoe box or a salad bowl and use that for now. Write down in your notes in your phone the exact size etc of the things you need. Next time you are at Walmart or Target you know exactly what you are looking for. Do not buy a bunch of cute baskets and wooden boxes before you know what you need!

You don’t need money to organize. If you never get the perfect basket and your bathroom is primarily organized by shoe boxes and packing tape…. guess what?! It’s still organized. Currently, the drawer that holds my cleanser, moisturizer, deodorant, contacts and the like is completely coordinated with boxes taped together to make dividers. Classy, right?! At least it is organized!

I am sure by now you all have heard of Marie Kondo. If you haven’t, she is a Japanese woman with an incredible amount of wisdom about decluttering and living a simple clean life. I will link her book here. You can click on the image to order from Amazon if you are interested! She has a show on Netflix called “Tidying Up”.

She does suggest that you do huge decluttering sessions and I don’t find that very feasible. As much as I would LIKE to do that I don’t have a lot of time for that and I don’t imagine you do either.

Declutter in a small area every day. Instead of putting off decluttering at all until you have time to pull everything out of each room of the house, I suggest doing little bits every day or as often as possible. Yes, it will take a long while to get through everything, but at least you will be making progress.

Decluttering is not a one and done. Hopefully next time you declutter and reorganize the junk drawer it will be much better, but you are going to have to do it again.

If you have the time and inclination to go all out… don’t have the kids at home, have pizza planned for dinner and have help! The likelihood of becoming overwhelmed is very possible so it is imperative to have a friend to help you.

Don’t start it if you can’t finish it! Don’t pull everything out of a dresser or the kitchen cupboards if you only have an hour to do it. Make sure you have the time to completely finish. Take it out, sort it, put it back, bag up garbage and take it to the trash, bag up donations and take them to a thrift store or charity of your choice. Do NOT leave donations in a bag in the living room or by the front door. Get it out! Decluttering is supposed to make your home less chaotic and more peaceful. A pile of junk left on the kitchen table when you got tired of doing it, is just the opposite.

Here is a super great article on what NOT to do when decluttering! Check it out!

Pro Organizer Tips: What NOT to do when decluttering your home

I hope you do something fun this weekend. Spend time with your kids. Our time with them is so short. Be with your spouse. Enjoy the life you’ve been gifted!

1 Thessalonians 5:16
Be joyful always

Blessings! XOXO

cleaning, family, organizing, spiritual

You Deserve a Clean and Peaceful Home

Posted on January 17, 2019January 29, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

I have a guilty pleasure. I get tremendous enjoyment from watching “Hoarders” and immense satisfaction watching them clean up all that junk. At first, it’s like a train wreck and you can’t look away. Then you want to shake the person and say “You don’t deserve to live like this!”! The cleaning process begins and it is amazing to see what is under all that garbage. You can see that at one time they had a beautiful home!

Unfortunately, I am sure that without a lot of intense counseling those people will go right back to living in filth. Somewhere in their lives, they decided that they weren’t worth anything but garbage…. and lots of it.

I am not suggesting that any one of us has a problem even remotely like this! If you did, you probably wouldn’t be here reading this. A lot of us do struggle with excess stuff though.

Let me tell you right now that no matter what life has handed you, you are worth more than your junk, your clutter, and garbage. You are a daughter or son of God! He wants the very best for you.

If you are drowning in “stuff” and find it hard to get rid of, I want you to ask yourself when it was that you decided that you didn’t deserve a nice clean home. If it is really a difficult challenge for you I strongly encourage counseling. Sometimes it’s fear. Fear of letting go of things because of the fear of not being provided for. Sometimes it is surrounding ourselves with a layer of stuff so we are protected from hurt. Our minds do funny things while trying to protect us. Without some help to learn to forgive, let go and heal it will continue to be an issue and keep you from being the best you can be! Therapy is for everyone because this is am an imperfect world full of imperfect people!

I read an article by The Minimalists called “Decluttering Doesn’t Work”. I will link it here. They talk about what happens if we don’t address the “why”. If the reasons we have our clutter don’t go away then getting rid of it won’t help. We will just find ourselves replacing our “pacifiers” as they call it.

https://www.theminimalists.com/decluttering/

The Minimalists “Why Decluttering Doesn’t Work”

When we remove our possessions we have to face who we really are. What is really important to us? Are material things so essential? Where does our happiness come from? Who are we without anything? Some pretty deep questions to consider and some serious soul searching to do!

Every single one of us deserves to come home at night to a well organized, clean, healthy, safe house. Not just certain people, not just rich people, not just other people. YOU! Your home is your castle, your refuge and a place of peace.

This is the reason and the passion behind this blog. I want to make that clean, organized dream home come true for everyone! YOU deserve it! So…. on with decluttering and maybe some inner cleansing as well.

If you are part of the VIP Self Cleaning House Facebook group, I hope you are enjoying the daily challenges! If you aren’t, please enter your email to follow my blog and you will get an invite!

cleaning, happiness, organizing

Happy Decluttering!

Posted on January 10, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

Hi Friends!

We are going to start this year off with a bang! We are going to focus on DECLUTTERING!!!! I am sooooo stinkin excited guys! I am doing this right along with you! We are going to toss, donate, rehome and classify!

So what exactly IS clutter? Clutter isn’t just that stack of last weeks mail on the counter and the pile of magazines that you just haven’t had time to read yet. Although those things ARE clutter, there are so many more things that are clutter.

clutter
(klʌtəʳ )

Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense clutters , present participle cluttering , past tense, past participle cluttered
1. uncountable noun
Clutter is a lot of things in an untidy state, especially things that are not useful or necessary.
Caroline prefers her worktops to be clear of clutter.
Synonyms: untidiness, mess, disorder, confusion
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/clutter

Clutter is anything that makes your space too crowded or busy and causes stress, anxiety or confusion. Clutter is unnecessary and drags you down, even if you don’t realize it. It can be too many pictures hanging on the wall, too many clothes in the closet, excess Christmas decorations, an entire shoebox full of nail polish….and you get your nails done at a salon. Too many lipsticks, phone apps or salt and pepper shaker collections. It can be too many projects, sports activities or even the wrong people.

You can try to organize clutter, but it is guaranteed to turn to chaos the minute you turn your back. Organized clutter is ….still clutter. The only way to truly organize and KEEP a clean and tidy home is to get rid of the clutter!

Clutter not only is an eyesore and an annoyance. Did you know that clutter actually affects our health, our choices, and our relationships? Clutter actually makes you tired. Your brain is forced to deal with every item you see. It is like a program running in the background that is making decisions and choices and using energy to do so.

I listened to these podcasts over again this week. There is an incredible amount of wisdom here! I can’t say enough about Chalene Johnson! A former “messy person” she knows what it is like and how to go about changing it. She has so many tips for getting rid of “stuff” and keeping your things organized. You can be free of the mess and clutter that prevents you from having the life you want!

https://themodelhealthshow.com/decluttering-your-life/

The Model Health Show with Chalene Johnson Episode 287

If you are new to podcasts these are a great first! I am obsessed with listening to podcasts whenever I get the chance! I listen to them at 1 1/2x speed so that I can fit more in! Learning from people that have more wisdom than you do is….wise!

Proverbs 2:2 “So that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding.”

Proverbs 3:13 “Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.”

Best Of The De-Clutter Project

Chalene Johnson Best of the De-Clutter Project

Please take the time to listen to these podcasts! They are exciting and uplifting. Listen while you are putting your make up on, doing your hair, driving to work. What a great way to start your day, filling your mind with good ideas, positive thoughts, life hacks, and wisdom!

I don’t know about you but I am really looking forward to going through my house again (yes, again…. decluttering is not a “one and done”, it is an ongoing process) and digging even deeper this time! It is so freeing!

Happy decluttering!

I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can’t think properly. If you’ve got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts. ~ Simon Cowell

cleaning, family, family traditions, food, happiness, organizing, planning

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

Happy New Year Friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

We had a “quiet” New Year’s celebration this year. Quiet for us anyway. It was still rather noisy and full of laughter and fun! It was just our family and a couple of friends playing games, eating and generally having a good time.

It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without the annual tree burning. I honestly don’t know how this tradition even started. For years we have been burning the Christmas Tree in the backyard in the snow New Year’s Eve night.

It seems so symbolic. The representation of the end of the year. All the past year’s mistakes go up in a pillar of black smoke and we are given a clean slate to start new. We get a chance to make different decisions and make better choices. It, in some way, resembles the forgiveness we were given when Jesus died on a tree and then defeated death to give us new life.

It is awesome sight to see a tree burning in your back yard! Safely… for the most part!

It is now January 2nd, and everything is back to reality with the addition of maybe some new resolutions to actually make changes this year. It is a good thing to want to make good changes in our lives! We often have such lofty goals that we totally miss the mark and are more discouraged than before though, and that is not where we want to be.

The key is making small changes that will lead you in the direction you want to go! Having someone to be accountable to, that can encourage you, guide or help you is good too!

I am so excited about the upcoming things planned for The Self Cleaning House this year! We are going to work together, step by step to get rid of clutter and organize the things we need to keep. We are going to learn how to decide what to keep and what to get rid of! We’ll find out what needs to be cleaned and how often we need to clean it. What are the best tools and supplies for cleaning? How do you make it look nice once it is clean? We will talk about time management, kids, meals and menu planning, self-care, positive attitudes, self-talk and keeping Jesus at the center of our lives.

I don’t claim to know all things clean and organized and so there will be some guest bloggers here to share their knowledge and skills!

Most importantly, these things are not going to be so hard, time-consuming or overwhelming that it takes away from your family time or your weekends. They will be small changes that will be fun and lead you to have a clean, peaceful home for you and your family to enjoy.

We are going to do this together! We are going to stick to those resolutions to clean and organize your home and we are all going to be doing it together!

When you enter your email to follow the Self Cleaning House, you will receive an invitation to the exclusive Self Cleaning House Facebook Group! There we can discuss what topics you want to hear about, chat about questions or ideas you have. We will do challenges and get daily reminders for things.

I am looking forward to transforming our homes together this year so that you can spend more time doing what you love!