Nearly without exception, something interrupts that all-day status. This afternoon, there’s a funeral I will attend.

But before leaving, my eye is on house cleaning. Three hours today on the kitchen and decluttering the dining room. O yeah, three hours will just touch the hem of the garment.

Also, two loads of clothes and the folding and putting away said clothes.

I’m doing the intermittent fasting right now, just one meal a day for the next month. I am blogging that on blogspot if you’re interested: http://sharon-mydailyfast.blogspot.com/ I am feeling great, sleeping better, but it’s not always easy.

Just wanted to post my housekeeping plans for today here. It helps keep me going.

How much good can be done by simply not answering back in a negative way? How much good can be done by simply not doing something negative toward your husband? What does this mean? Here are some suggestions:

• stop remembering and mentioning negative things he has done in the past
• don’t tell him of his bad habits
• when he says something that makes you angry, just be quiet
• don’t put something in his way simply to see him fail
• don’t keep him from socializing with his friends or his family

These are just some suggestions. Every good gift comes from God. This gift of saying or doing nothing negative can be found in:

• Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”.
• Psalm 4:4 “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still”.
• Proverbs 17:28 “Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive”.
• Romans 13:10 “Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law”.

One of the things the Hippocratic Oath says is “never do harm to anyone”, which I’ve also heard as “first, do no harm”. I pray we can at least, do no harm to our husbands, and even to everyone. This is more than a good idea, it is a commandment to those who are following God’s words, which Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.

Today, this year, for all your years, at least, say and do nothing negative to your or about your husband. Improve your life and the world in this small way.

Sharon, with Mary

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1. I  will read the New Testament through in my Spanish Bible. Hopefully, I will learn Spanish this way.
2. I have a verse a week to give me strength to deny myself and live God’s way. Week one’s verse: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” ~Proverbs 24:10
3. I hope to lose some weight, though I’m not expecting to lose the entire baggage of extra fat I’m carrying around with me. I’m shooting for about 70 pounds, though. Whew! That sounds like so much! Well, hello, it is! It’s all about denying myself and living for God, even in food.
4. I will establish morning, evening and other house management routines.
5. I will grow much of our own food and preserve food by canning, freezing, drying and root cellaring. Root cellaring is a new one to me, but I plan to at least bury potatoes and carrots in a galvanized lidded can.
6. I will declutter the rooms in our house that are lived in. Only one room isn’t, which I’ll get to next year along with the barns and farm yard – that with Husband’s guidance.
7. I will write more letters, send more cards, and not the email/facebook kind.
8. I will prepare more meals at home and eat out less – ‘way less.
9. I will sew more.
10. I will do more in hand needlework, which by that I mean, quilting, knitting, tatting, embroidering and lucet cording.
11. I will write on this blog more.

That’s enough. I hope your 2012 year finds you a better person at the end of it. That’s what we all plan to be in the beginning. This world can only be better when each one of is a better person. I can only improve me, so I’m praying I will be improved by the end of the year.

Sharon, with Martha

“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance; For you serve the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23,24

Well, that verse just tore me up – I knew I wasn’t doing right by not taking care of the work at hand.

Here are some excuses for not doing the housework that this verse crushes:

• Husband never rewards me for all the work I do: “from the Lord you will receive the reward of inheritance”
• How can I work for someone who throws his clothes all over the floor?: “You serve the Lord Christ”
• I am tired of trying to get the children to pick up after themselves: “You serve the Lord Christ”
• How can I work for someone who yells at me? “You serve the Lord Christ”
• I’d rather do church work than house work. “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men”
• Working at home does not have any glory: “You will receive the reward of inheritance”.

This verse brings on new life and new meaning to doing the dirty jobs of housework. It’s suddenly no longer “dirty jobs” anymore. Now, there is a joy in house work. We just need this daily reminder.

Sharon, with Mary

I can’t put those here because, well, I want them but don’t have them. They are not expensive things to acquire, either. However, I must confess the reason – my house is simply too messy to be prettied up. There it is. And why is that? I think the answer lies in the word of God, as all answers do, I have found. Proverbs 13:6: “The soul of a lazy man desires but has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.”

I have to admit my laziness. I asked my ever-busy grandmother once, “How do you keep from being lazy?” She answered simply, “I just get up and work it off.” Sounds simple enough. Those words of hers, 40 some-odd years since still ring in my memory as such astounding wisdom. I loved her so. Her house and gardens, in my young eyes were perfect and lovely. It wasn’t fancy, but I couldn’t imagine a nicer place in the world. Laziness didn’t make it so, either.

I got up this morning and got on the computer to talk to a family member on “skype”, so while I waited for them to get on, I decided to read a blog that inspires me. Her “lavendar scented home”, as she describes it sounds just lovely. I thought how I wish I could inspire you with such beautiful words. But, if I did talk about how wonderful it all is around my house, I would be lying. Can’t do that – not as the child of God.

I began to feel a little down because of it, but then, I realized that in my messy home, I am not alone. I think the hoarding shows could come here and find a new episode actually. And, why is it all like this? I like to bring up the excuse that my painful leg has caused this burden of clutter and need for serious cleaning to occur. And, that’s partly true. However, I have to own that I am usually just lazy. My mother says I’m not, and I like to hear it, but I do know the truth in my heart.

So, I’m presently working on being “diligent” so my family and I can be “rich” in blessings, and maybe not too poor in the checking account, either. Being orderly does save money. There will be no double buying because of not being able to find things. Late payments won’t incur the resulting late charges or higher interest rates.

I’ll tell you a few of my “dreams” to accomplish before the Christmas school break, which will be around December 15th or so.

• Declutter and clean the first floor
• Set in order the second floor
• Dig my new herb dooryard garden to be ready for Spring

Those are just three things. Even those seem like a mountain. But, I think in four months, I’ll make great progress whether or not everything will be perfectly perfect. I’m looking for great improvements right now. The doilies and lavendar scents are on their way.

I hope and pray that you will dream of making a cozier home and then, go about doing the task of bringing it about. No one is going to do it for you. There are no fairies or brownies that come in the night to help you out. Forget about family or friends doing it all for you – they have their own lives. Get up and do some work to have a house that the children in your life couldn’t imagine a nicer place in the world.

Sharon with Martha

Actually, I’m grateful for those boring classes. I enjoyed them, but I grew tired of them. Now, here I am, 32 years into happily ever aftering and I am so glad that had those endless classes. Now, I do admit that I fall ‘way short of that kind of woman, really. Sometimes, I feel as though I need those classes all over again.

As unqualified as I feel to teach anyone how to be a good mother or wife, I do feel qualified to teach you, dear young mother and wife to stay with the husband that you started with. See it to the end. The story of your marriage has its own ending. Don’t go messing it up with another story and change the ending. As imperfect as he may be, remember that you are also imperfect.

And, get this in your noggin – he is growing up – he *will* mature. His maturity will come better if you give him room to grow along the way. The story of your marriage will have a happy ending if God’s ways are your ways. God’s ways aren’t only good, they are perfect.
They will not disappoint. Truthfully, the times in my marriage that have been the worst are the times that I have seen me straying away from the word of God. It can be difficult walking against the bitter cold winds that sometimes blow from the husband. But, you can get through it, with God’s words in your heart.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 when you need to be reminded that  love is an action verb rather than a feeling, that the bitter pill of “love does not seek its own” needs to be swallowed.

Go to Isaiah 54 and read that your Maker is your Husband when your husband that is beside you doesn’t want to listen to the yearnings of your heart. When you belong to God, He is there to listen. When loneliness overtakes you, He is there to comfort you. He is the God of All Comfort! Run to God — don’t be over come in the temptation of running into another man’s arms. That will not end pretty.

No one said marriage would be easy. But, it will be easier *on you* if you see it to the end and find out how YOUR marriage story ends. It shouldn’t belong to anyone else, ideally. And, if you can have something ideally, have it.

Sharon, with Mary

The economy has hit us all. We are no exception. So, here we are facing reality. There is a big opportunity to save money on meals at home. This month, I have made this plan to help with our food bill. I hope this will inspire some of you to take a long look and realize it’s okay to eat “poorly”.

This is the weekly schedule when times are poor:

• Sundays – cupboard findings – this means what is available in the cubboards, refrigerator and freezer. The real planning for this comes the night before.
• Mondays – Beans
• Tuesdays – all vegetables and fruit
• Wednesdays – cupboard findings
• Thursdays – all vegetables and fruit
• Fridays – beans
• Saturdays – all vegetables and fruit

Just making out menus have been proven to cut costs on groceries.  For the most part, I’ve just written the main dish here.So, here’s the menu for the month I made out:

1. Church potluck
2. Beans, squash, cornbread
3. Baked potatoes
4. Cupboard findings
5. Huge green raw salad
6. Beans squash and cornbread
7. Vegetable pita pockets
8. Cupboard findings
9. Beans, squash and cornbread
10. Sweet potato casserole
11. cupboard findings
12. Huge green salad
13. Beans squash and cornbread
14. Fresh vegetable soup
15. Cupboard findings
16. Beans, squash and cornbread
17. Scalloped corn
18. Cupboard findings
19. Huge green salad
20. Beans, squash and cornbread
21. Corn and barley salad
22. Cupboard findings
23. Beans, squash and cornbread
24. Meal-in-a-loaf with fresh vegetables*
25. Cupboard findings
26. Huge green salad
27. Beans, squash and cornbread
28. Grilled vegetable kabobs
29. Cupboard findings
30. Beans, squash and cornbread
31. Baked butternut squash

* I learned about this dish on “Homestead Blessings”, the bread making volume. You can see these on www.franklinsprings.com and roll over the “shop our films” icon. Click on “Homestead Blessings”. I’m slowly collecting these as I have the money available. They are a wonderful set of simple every-day instructions for feminine homesteading skills. I say “feminine” because so many of the homesteading instructions out there involve heavy farm work and building that men are more inclined to do. I have starved for more homesteading instruction meant for home – skills, i.e. for women. You may look at these, as I have,  and think, “That would work better this way”, or “That has never worked for me”, but, I have to admit, these ladies are DOING it, and I’m DREAMING of doing it. Better to do a home skill less than perfect than to not do it at all. I think you will enjoy these. My youngest daughter and I have really liked this bread making one, and we really like this recipe for “Meal In A Loaf”. (Simply, you make your bread dough recipe, roll it out to about an 1/2 inch thick, cut the sides at a diagonal about 1/3 the way in on each side, put your filling down the middle [here, fresh vegetables], fold the diagonal cuts over the filling, pinch together and bake).

Today is the second of May, and I haven’t soaked my dried beans for tonight yet, so I’ll be making lentils, which our family is crazy about anyway.

Sharon with Martha

1. Chicken Strips
2. pancake supper
3. meat loaf
4. navy bean and collards soup
5. baked potatoes
6. chicken and rice casserole
7. pork and vegetable stir-fry
8. mini-burgers
9. pizza sticks
10. chicken roast
11. cowboy stew
12. corn on the cob/squash/beans
13. green bean casserole
14. chicken stir-fry
15. hot dogs
16. grilled cheese
17. roast beef
18. beef and vegetable soup
19. beans and corn bread
20. chicken spaghetti
21. beef stir-fry
22. frito chili pie
23. hobo packets
24. turkey breast
25. chicken and wild rice
26. squash casserole
27. ground beef casserole of some kind
28. chicken stir-fry
29. chicken strips
30. pancake supper

Sharon with Martha

What a mess! Even if I knew right where everything was, which I didn’t, just the appearance hurt my brain and took joy from me, and my family.

Now, here is what it was after two hours (that included putting away and taking out the trash) and a good vacuuming.

Much better.  What helped me to keep at the task was my cell phone timer. I set it for 20 minutes, and went through six of them with one break. I’ve also worked in other areas of the house. Other pictures could look much like this one. I haven’t thought to take before and after pictures of everything. I’ll do some more later. There is still so much to do.

Now, I’m only showing my embarrassing cluttery ways in order to let you know that you are not alone, or not as bad as you may first think. It’s far better for Keepers of the Home to do this on their own rather than fall to the temptation of getting (or letting) someone “help” do this clutter clearing for them. You never know what they are throwing away, and even though you are not willing to let go of as much, still, you know what you have and in time will be able to let go of more than you did the first time around.

Now listen to me, it is very important that you get the clutter out of your house and car and out-buildings. Because, if you don’t, someone else WILL have to come do it for you, and it will be the price you will have to pay. So, either pay the price now and do it yourself, or pay the price of someone else going through your stuff and you having to listen to their demeaning talk. When that happens, be quiet and let it go. It is the high price of letting your clutter get bad enough for help to be ordered into your home. You don’t want that, so do it now, and do it yourself.

You will be so much happier to be more like Martha in this regard. Then, sit in your clean space and read God’s word and be a Mary.

Sharon, with Martha

Although, this verse is actually talking about being ready for the return of the Lord at Judgment Day, still, it was taken from the example of servants being ready for their master to return from a trip.

As a newlywed, I went to a Bible class at a local preachers’ school. It was the classes for the wives or any woman wishing to attend. I was so happy to find these classes they offered. One of the things I learned from a teacher there was to get up, get dressed, all the way to hose (or socks) and shoes, hair and face fixed, so that if anyone calls you, you’ll be ready to go serve in any way. This NCV version sounds just like my teacher.

Here’s a definition for the word, “organize” from a pocket Webster’s Dictionary. It reads, “to prepare as to be ready for service”. I’ve never found a dictionary since with this definition, but I think this is the best one yet.

So today, I started the day getting dressed to my shoes, went to work on an obligation at the church building, and am now home to declutter for two hours and work on this list before I sit down to rest and quilt:

• wash three loads laundry
• vacuum
• sweep, mop the kitchen
• take out the trash
• clean the glass door and bathroom mirrors
• clean the refrigerator
• dust

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll be brave and post a before and after picture of my decluttering job. I have a very cluttered area around my rocking chair that I’m going to work on today.

What are you going to do today to make yourself “ready for service” when your family is in need of clean socks, or someone calls and would like to come over for a chat? Cleaning house is indeed a service for the Lord, and one way to be ready not only for people about us, but for when the Lord returns, and we have been able to bring others closer to Him because we were ready for serving them.

Sharon with Martha