"Your body is the first thing any child of man ever wanted. Therefore dispose yourself to be loved, to be wanted, to be available. Be there for them with a vengeance. Be a gracious, bending woman. Incline your ear, your heart, your hands to them.... To be a Mother is to be the sacrament - the effective symbol - of place. Mothers do not make homes, they are our home." from Bed and Board, Robert Farrar Capon

Saturday, August 11, 2012

A Wise Saying


One of my friends once passed on to me something a wise woman had once told her,

"You don't wash the floor to keep it clean, 
you wash the floor to get it clean."

Now I know that sounds simple, but if you let the full implication of those words sink in, and then extend them to include the host of household duties you perform each day, you may find it extremely comforting.

Someone is going to drip Popsicle on the freshly scrubbed floor.  Someone is going to use the bathroom five minutes after it's been cleaned.  Someone is going to dump the basket of toys out on the newly vacuumed carpet.  Someone is going to rummage thoughtlessly through the just organized dresser drawer.  Someone is going to wear that newly ironed shirt.  Because people live here!  That's who it's all for!  Life is never going to hold still long enough for anything to remain in that sterile and glistening state that I strive to get it to every week! (Proverbs 14:4)

That doesn't mean I'm going to throw my Clorox Clean-Up out the window, but it means that I can look at my care for this home as an ongoing lifelong cycle.  It will never be "done." I will keep tending to it all, because that is the vocation I have been given as a wife, a mother, and a homemaker, to daily bring order out of chaos, to say "let there be light" in this kitchen each and every morning as I start all over again.

7 comments:

  1. Yep. I loved Flylady suggestion of my using a different bathroom every time I visited it in order to keep after the kids and guest half bath. A friend and I sort of joke we get about 365 things done a year. :o) I have many a hilarious deep discussions about floor washing at Bible class.....did you know washing the floor is a theological topic??? Happy floor washing!

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    1. So my question is, when do I get to hear your great thoughts on the theological implications of floor washing? If you ever write about it let me know, will ya? :D (365 things done a year - exactly! ;)

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  2. Leah, have you been in my house lately and I didn't know? :) Monday is my floor day, and of course I was yelling at my girls right after I washed it. Thank you for the reminder that people live here. People that I love dearly. I don't clean for cleaning's sake. I will keep my house clean and orderly for my family and neighbors. After all, If a man is satisfied by the fruit of his lips according to Proverbs, then doesn't that extend to his hands?
    bless you, I enjoyed our brief conversation.

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  3. That is an excellent reminder....I have been cleaning floors many a times just to keep them clean! Thank you Leah, for the reminder about my neighbors even if they are not little children at this time!

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  4. Well, just happened to check the blog this AM (still planning on putting in my recipe) and I'm happily reminded again of what a blessing it is to even have a family that messes up this place. I'm thankful for my God-given vocation and try not to look around too much (especially during Summer) after I've cleaned-up for the day. I just read recently that "it's important that when a child speaks, there is an adult who listens, when they look out, there is someone looking back at them" and I would add "with a smile". As I read this I was reminded that I'm "mom" before "house-cleaner". God's Peace, Leah. Thanks for the reminder!
    - Michelle

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    1. Michelle, did you notice I linked to your blog on the "One of my friends" part? You probably forgot that YOU were the one who told me this first years ago. :D Good encouragement that comes around goes around, eh?

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  5. This is such a good lesson to learn. It leads to be contentment, in knowing that there's no such thing as once and for all being done with housework. As long as there are people to take care of, I will not run out of things to do! That is a very good thing.

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