Posted in Clean Heart - Clean Home

In accordance with Amy's CCC - Colossal Clutter Clean-up, I did a heart check.  Our first assignment was to clean our hearts and find out where are hearts are in regard to the clutter in our homes.  There is a reason behind our clutter in our homes and it starts with our heart. 

I will be adding more to this series of posts as I declutter my home and get ready for the CHCHC (Clean Heart, Clean Home Challenge) which is deep cleaning our home (and our hearts).  First I needed to declutter and am so grateful to Amy for putting all that she has in this.

Here's my entry:

I'm realizing that this is a vicious cycle.  When I am stressed about the house and it's condition - I go to the store and try to buy happiness and peace.  I get home with my "happiness" and it clutters up my home more.  Then I, again, get stressed about the clutter and buy again.  And so the vicious cycle continues until I cry out to the Lord and say "Please help me STOP!"

I thrive in a neat and orderly environment and yet my home is rarely that way.  So, it would seem that this is the very reason I am stressed a lot of the time.  This isn't the legacy that I want to pass on to my children.  I need peace in my home - the kind of peace that only Jesus gives.  To be consumed with Jesus is to not be consumed with stuff.  When I think of peace, I think of clean, crisp, cool & warm.  I think of spring and fall at the same time because I love those seasons.  Christ is my Spring and Fall!

I have cried out to the Lord for help and He is helping me!!  Praise God!!  I'm learning, as He is graciously showing me how impulsive I am.  I will elaborate further in another post going into detail the issues that I have in my heart and why I struggle so bad in this area.

Some have expressed to me that it would seem on my blog that we have the perfect life.  We do have a great life, please don't misunderstand what I am about to say.  God is gracious and good to us!!  He loves me so much that He sent His One & Only Son for ME!!  Because of that, I lean on Him for everything!!!  And because of that, I can have a more positive outlook on circumstances as they arise and seem out of whack.

We have struggles!  I'm a sinner - my children are sinners!  But, God is bigger than all of us, and He allows me to see the best in situations and praise Him through all things. 

I have a dear sweet husband and a sweet best girlfriend who listen to me complain and then quickly set me on my feet with sweet words of encouragement and guidance back to the Word. 

They do not let me complain and join into that complaining!  That IS NOT A FRIEND!  Don't kid yourself if you think that someone who would let you wallow around in your sin and then sin right along with you is a friend, at least not a Christian friend.  And whether that talk is talking bad about your husband or your children or your circumstances, a real friend leads you to the Lord for strength and WILL NOT allow you to badmouth any of the above.  Read Matthew 18:15 and you'll know that for sure!!

And so, I've been able to share with b and Big P about this decluttering journey and I know that I have their prayers and guidance.  I'm excited about it!  Call me weird, but I look forward to the challenge of having God call out my sins! LOL  Seriously!!  It is a great and glorious thing for God to bring me to my knees and make me completely rely on Him.  My heart is so wretched!!!  And I need to clean it as much as I do my home!!

So, I look forward to adding onto this as I go through this journey and look back at where the Lord is taking me and what He is doing in my heart.  And I'm certainly looking forward to a decluttered and clean home!!! :)

In Christ,
Christine