Spring Cleaning

This weekend Jason and I decided to do some spring cleaning.  We've lived in this house for over 5 years and have never done this kind of major cleaning before.  It was long overdue.  Plus, we are considering putting our house on the market (won't go into all the details of that now), so we want things to look new again.  We had some good Saturday morning snuggling time with the kids in PJs and a plateful of pancakes, and by mid-morning the kids were off to grandma and grandaddy's for the rest of the day.  I put on some good music, opened the windows and started washing kitchen cabinets, baseboards, and windows (inside and out), dusting blinds, and cleaning the back porch.  The house was so still without Jackson and Selah around!  It was definitely a shock to my system.  At first, I didn't like it and decided that I had made a mistake missing a day with my kids just to clean.  But having time to think and pray, God really taught me some things.

Spring Cleaning Lesson #1:  It is always easier to see the dirt on the opposite side of the window. 
Have you ever noticed that when you're washing a window you can easily see the spots and dirt on the other side?  So, you think you have the side you're working on perfectly clean and all the rest of the grime is on the other side.  Then you go to wash the other side and suddenly you realize you didn't do such a great job on the first side.  Why is the dirt so hard to see on "your" side but so easy to see on the "other" side?  I think this holds a lot of truth in life.  It is always so easy to see faults in other people, but so hard for us to see our own flaws.  We feel like we have our side pretty clean when in reality, the fingerprints and fly specks are still there.  Jesus tried to tell us about this one when he said "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in the your borther's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5, NIV)

Right then, I began to ask God to forgive me for judging others.  I thanked him for giving me good friends on the other side of the window that help me see the specs of dirt on my side.  I asked him to help me see, too, the areas in my life that didn't please him.

Spring Cleaning Lesson #2:  If you look closely, things aren't as clean as you thought they were.
I like a clean house.  Before Jackson was born, my house was almost always clean.  I have certainly let go of the ideal of having a continually spotless home since becoming a mother, but I still pride myself in keeping my house relatively clean.  Wait, did I just say the "p" word?  Yeah, that's right.  You know what pride comes before?  Also, exactly what does "relatively clean" mean?  It means that I'm comparing the cleanliness of my home to the homes of others.  So, the standard I set for my home is not based on an unchanging absolute but based on how I stack up to other people.  As long as I keep my house as clean as my peers' homes, then I'm okay.  You see where I'm going with this?

As I was cleaning, I was shocked to find that my house was NOT as clean as I thought it was.  When I looked closely and examined the often overlooked or hidden parts, I discovered some embarrasingly fithly stuff!  Wow, how ignorant I was!  How silly I was to be so prideful in something that was so dirty!  The Holy Spirit began to speak to me about my life.  "Kelley, do you take pride in what a good person you are?  Are you comparing yourself to others so that you can feel good about your level of 'goodness'?"  Ouch....maybe.  "Don't you know that's not the point?  Don't you know that God's standard for righteousness is absolute and he doesn't "grade on a curve"?  (Lots of problems with that metaphor there, cause I know God doesn't really "grade" us...try to hear me out here)  In fact, no one can live up to God's standard of righteousness.  Without God's mercy and grace through Jesus, we would all be a lost cause.  I confessed my pride and asked God again to constantly whisper to my soul how I can please him in my actions, my thoughts, my giving, and my loving.  It turns out, I needed some spring cleaning on the inside, too.

This song came to mind:  Welcome Home by Shaun Groves

Take, me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking

Welcome to this heart of mine
I've buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I've made
Inside of me
Come decorate, Lord
Open up the creaking door
And walk upon the dusty floor
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remain
Spread Your love upon the walls
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded
No more doors are barricaded

Come inside this heart of mine
It's not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home

Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
Every closet's filled with clutter
Messes yet to be discovered
I'm overwhelmed, I understand
I can't make this place all that You can

I took the space that You placed in me
Redecorated in shades of greed
And I made sure every door stayed locked
Every window blocked, and still You knocked