Clean, Pick Up, Tidy Up!

Today’s Scripture: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

If I hear myself say, “pick up your socks and shoes” one more time I may just blow my head right of the top of my shoulders! I mean, come on, please… tell a sister I’m not alone on this one?  Why is it so hard for kids and husbands to take their things to where they belong without the “maid” having to sound like a tired, broken record?  I had a friend in bible study several years ago tell me she took up knitting because it was the one thing in life that actually remained completed and she didn’t have to do it over and over again.  You know, like cleaning the windows just to find smudges a ½ hr. later, or vacuuming the floor only to have a crumb feast fit for a colony of ants a few hours after you put the vacuum away.  Of course, laundry is a vicious cycle, as well as dishes, and the list goes on… So here I am, writing after just finishing up my cleaning of the toilets, and felt compelled to consider it all JOY! Joy you might say, well yes, isn’t that what scripture calls us to do?  Some might ask if cleaning up, picking up, tidying up could really be considered a trial? I believe so, and not only is it a trial, but an ongoing one that has no true end. One we must learn to find joy in, or else it may drive us crazy.  Does it test my faith in God Himself, in His existence- NO…but does it test my sin nature to scream and act less than Christian when I feel like the unappreciated maid of the house…YES!!!  We must persevere in our trials both the big and small everyday kind, like cleaning.  Is it going to stay clean, not a chance!  Will I choose to do it anyway and whistle while I work; yes I will. (Listening to Christian hymns or music can help get you in the mood to praise God while you scrub away.)  I can be grateful for arms and hands that scrub, legs that walk and bend over to pick up, and not to mention a dishwasher, washer/dryer, vacuum cleaner, and all the other appliances that are my handy helpers each day.  So I will finish all my work today, look around briefly and feel a sense of accomplishment, and Praise God for the breath I breathe the next time I say, “please pick up your shoes!” I know it is not always easy, believe you me, and it often may be said through clenched teeth now and again; but we have to do it whether we are joyful or upset. Which one do you think would be most pleasing to our Father? And which would probably make us feel better about ourselves at the end of the day? Smile on my friends, life is too short to get worked up over shoes out of place, or smudged windows.  I am certain God could care less about the cleanliness of our house, it is our heart He is concerned with…so where is yours today?