Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Home - Sweep Home



Housekeeping? What stories can be told. It seems that a woman is either a good housekeeper or a horrible one. There are hardly any "in-betweens." Having an immaculately kept house doesn’t necessarily ensure us the title of a good “Susie Housekeeper” (know they normally say Susie Homemaker but wanted to be different!) – it could just mean no one really gets to live there. However, on the other hand, if our house is filthy – like where pigs feel comfortable – we are probably horrible housekeepers.

Truthfully, to make a house a home, we need a few papers here or there, and a book dislocated from its shelf. Oh yes, let's not forget, a fuzz ball under one of the beds. There is no reason we cannot be labeled a good housekeeper having those things in our midst – nor will a few water spots on the tub enclosure or dirty laundry in the clothes hamper label us Bad. These can be the signs of a living, breathing family. However, the Word does mention idleness (or laziness), which could account for dirt/grime round and about, or offensive odors floating throughout the house, (I’ll leave other “nasty” housekeeping thoughts to your imagination). Oh no, I just thought of someone's house that is just like what I’ve been speaking of! You did too?

Well, here I go remembering again. Folks, when you are close to turning 70, you are allowed all the moments you can to even think.

In my lifetime, I have visited a house where cockroaches battled us for the plates. What an experience! There is also the story of animals. Have any of you ever gone to a person’s house where farm animals roamed freely inside it? Yes, farm animals, not domestic pets. Sound far-fetched? No, not really. Believe me, in such an atmosphere, you have to thoroughly inspect where you walk, where you sit, and even where you stand – and never touch! Another adventure is where the hostess puts down silver/china on the table (without wiping it off) right after she’s shooed the family cat off the table? It’s happened. Why there have been many times, I’ve stopped at the first gas station or park on my way home because their restroom facilities were cleaner than the one(s) in the house I just left. Now that’s bad!!!

I said all that to say this – what’s our spiritual house look like? What do people see when they look at us (in the spirit)? Hopefully, we keep our spirits clean. Continuously keeping the dirt that blows our way and the grime that sticks itself to our spirit at bay. We can’t be idle but must sweep filth out heart’s door (not just sweeping it under the rug). We need to shine on and polish our spiritual house daily so we can continue our refinement to perfection.

Happy cleaning! (and NO, you can't hire someone like "Merry Maids" to do it for you!).

4 comments:

Kathy McElhaney said...

This has been our month to clean the church. While I don't enjoy the chore (at home, at church, or inside my heart!) I love it when it's done! Shiny floors and counter tops, smooth beds, fresh towels. A renewed spirit, peace, joy, all the fruits of the Spirit. It's worth it! And I know I'll be going at it again tomorrow...

Carol Connell said...

Great post, Karen! I recalled my husband and I being invited to dinner when we lived in South Carolina. We saw several cockroaches roaming around in the kitchen near the stove. This really made my skin crawl, and we were both looking forward to finishing the meal and getting out of there. We live in a 2 story, and generally, the downstairs is pretty clean. The upstairs? Well, I should probably spend more time cleaning it than I do. We do need to be diligent though about keeping our spiritual house clean, and you're right in that nobody else can do it for us. Thank you for this reminder.

April Renee said...

Great post!
so you've vistied a relitive of mine??? wink wink... actually of my husbands??? oppps :0)


The application of our hearts is ever so true! We can be clean on the outside but what about the inside???

Karen J. Hopper said...

Kathy,
How nice it is to have a clean church building but more importantly clean hearts positioned inside.

Carol,
Oh, we lived in two-story homes, and it takes creativity to keep everything in order. Finally I learned to have two of every cleaning agent and mechanism - well, that is, after we were a little better off financially. However, it's a task at its best.

April,
I can't believe you wrote that. lol