I LOVE TO SLEEP.
Sometimes, when I lie down in my bed at night, I just smile and wiggle my toes and think how thankful I am for sleep. It is so good.
And warm baths — love those too.
Oh, and curling up in my white comfy chair, sipping tea (sometimes coffee), and just letting my bones relax.
Relax. Curl up. Sleep. I could live like this 24-7. But it’s not much of a life and my home would fall apart and my children would essentially raise themselves, because my husband works full-time. You know, if I just lived comfortably . . . If I just let laziness have its way in me . . .
If I just chose to be selfish.
That’s right, selfish. Because let’s face it, the root of laziness is selfishness. I’m not talking about being genuinely tired or going through a season of depression — that’s legit. I’m talking about just not wanting to do anything.
I don’t want to be a lazy person! I want to be diligent; I want to be wise and faithful with my time and the talents God has given me. I must push back daily on the Curse and choose to work. Work is good.
Today, I’m going to choose to be diligent. I’m going to choose to have authority over these lazy bones and accept the fact that life is hard and it wasn’t meant to be easy. We live in a world wrapped in sin, and so we must fight; we must remain faithful. We press on, remembering the goal: to live with eternity in mind.
We work so there is order and so we can eat and live, but we also work so we can become like Jesus and love others well.
We choose to lift up our work to heaven. We choose to let the Holy Spirit have His way in us, making us humble and willing to serve. We choose to create beauty out of chaos in order to love those who need a soft place to land.
It really is all a choice — the choice to surrender to the One who will work through us.
I can relate to all of you out there who struggle with laziness and a lack of motivation to clean. I consider myself to be domestically challenged.
Like you, it’s not that I don’t like having a clean, peaceful home; it’s that I find cleaning terribly boring. However, since cleaning is part of life, it must be done or life becomes chaotic and stressful (if not for us, for those around us). Here are some tips to help you get into perseverance mode (a.k.a. a cleaning groove):
- Figure out your why and write it down — write down some reasons it’s worthy to make a home?
- “Put shoes on your feet,” says the FlyLady. I confirm that when I put on sneakers it actually helps — you feel like you should move when you have sneakers on!
- Do the hardest thing first. You know that chore that feels like a mountain? For me it’s the kitchen . . . and laundry . . . and . . . Climb it before you do anything else. Once you “eat that frog” everything else will seem like a molehill.
- Play music and dance while you clean!
- Get your kiddos involved and make it fun. Have a competition to see who can clean different rooms the fastest — and award some type of prize to the winner.
- Remind yourself how good it feels to be in a clean, inviting, peaceful environment.
- Consider the eternal value of your work.
Making a home is a beautiful, worthwhile goal. And it doesn’t have to be perfect or totally clean or organized. Remember, the mission is love, and through our home we can love ourselves and others well.
Be encouraged! The Lord is at work in you when you surrender to His gentle molding!
Still need some help? Come on over to my blog where I’m giving away 6 months of FREE house cleaning!
Love, Sarah Mae
P.S. Check out my new book, Having a Martha Home the Mary Way: 31 Days to a Satisfied Soul. With challenges, stories, and fun thrown in, it’s for all of us out there who aren’t naturally inclined to cleaning, but who want to create a place where love is sown in and grace takes root. And also where we don’t trip over all our things. Learn more at MarthaHomeMaryWay.com or pick it up now at DaySpring or wherever books are sold!
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Bev @ Walking Well With God says
Sarah Mae,
I guess it says something when my heart began to beat faster when I read ” 6 months of free house cleaning”. I have always envied people who actually like to clean. Give me any other job and I will sink my teeth into it for hours…but cleaning? Your bullet point really struck me…Consider the eternal value of your work. Often times cleaning seems futile. As soon as you get all the laundry done and folded, someone throws a dirty pair of socks in the hamper. The Bible does call us to do everything (including cleaning) unto the Lord. I try to make cleaning my sacrificial offering unto the Lord. I do it because I am thankful that He’s given me a home to clean. I do it because it calls me out of my lazy/selfish ways. I really needed this post this morning!! Thank you…
Blessings,
Bev
Mary Haynie says
I know that feeling. Get the wash downstairs, and started in the wash, I go back upstairs there is more in the hamper. It’s 2 flights down and the basket is heavy. Good exercise though and hubby sometimes carries it down for me.
Bev @ Walking Well With God says
Mary,
I’m half tempted to get a fitbit just to see how many steps around the house I do; up and down flights of stairs, in any given day lol. I have a sweet hubby who helps too…
Mary Haynie says
I have a fitbit and going up and down the stairs, exercising, and doing housework puts lots of steps on my fitbit.
Sarah Mae says
Girl, me too! It is hard, but it’s not futile. God will use all of our efforts, even if they are just to make us more like Him. 🙂
Beth says
Oh my, this was convicting…I was literally praying about these things on my way in to work this morning. You see, for me it’s not the cleaning; since I work full time and am away from home 11 hours every day, the title of this in my mind is “For when you DON’T want to do anything but….sit in your LazyBoy at night and watch your favorite cable shows”. Ugh. I did that last night…I literally chose (there’s that choice; it always starts with a choice) to watch a second hour of TV instead of turn it off and spend some time with God. I was confessing that this morning, and then this post appears. Sometimes I’m legit tired, but sometimes it’s just me being legit lazy. Thanks for this, as I’m taking it as a direct word from the Lord to order my evenings with better choices.
Sarah Mae says
I’m with you. I need to read these words myself over and over!
A says
Sarah, thank you for this posting. Praise be to the Lord that He convicts gently and without condemnation. I pray that the Lord shows me my blind spots (I have lots :P) so that I can confess, chose better, and act on the good choices He gives me. May each of us be an overcomer today in His truth, grace, and strength 🙂
Sarah Mae says
I am so thankful He is a gentle Father!
Jeanne Snyder LeMieux says
Well I found this post at the just the right time…dishes to be done and laundry to be sorted, but I’m sitting at my computer and trying to decide whether to take a nap or not, at 9:30 a.m.!!! I’m in a terrible productivity funk, so I’ll read your post again, and get to work. Thank you for the kick in the pants! 🙂
Sarah Mae says
It never ends, does it?! And friend, sometimes just do one thing, and that one thing can lead to one thing babies and you’re off!
Susan says
You hit on a character quality I hold highly to – DILIGENCE.
JeanneTakenaka says
Sarah Mae, what a great post. And I completely agree, selfishness is at the root of the laziness within us. When I first read that, I thought about one of my boys and how i might help him understand this. But God . . . He reminds me of the areas in life where I’m lazy too. Ouch.
Thank you for the reminder that keeping my home is a way to pour out love on those I love the most.
I loved this: “Remember, the mission is love, and through our home we can love ourselves and others well.” This is what I want to do. 🙂
Sarah Mae says
Yes, that is the whole point, love!
Krista Dunbar says
I absolutely love this. I am not a cleaner. I even told my husband in our marriage vows that the house would be messy but I’d always try my best to clean. I just would rather be doing other things on my list or lazing on the couch. Oye. This is super helpful and that’s what I’ll be doing tonight!
Sarah Mae says
So glad it was helpful! I’m the same way, I would rather do almost anything else!
Rebecca Jones says
First, I think it’s great that you sleep so well. So many women don’t. I used to be one of them, and I’ve written a lot to help others learn to rest in the Lord. Housework is just akin to drudgery, I think we feel like Cinderella. And in some cases, the husbands or children won’t notice what we do until there are no clean clothes or no dishes to eat out of. Sitting in front of the television and asking for the remote when it’s right there is lazy. A five year old who throws laundry under the bed rather than the hamper is lazy. I don’t think Jesus meant us to be either overworked or lazy. A family effort on housework, makes for more family time. Be blessed, sleep well ladies. It is necessary to healing and health.
Beth Williams says
Sarah Mae,
Great intriguing post! We are commanded to do everything as unto the Lord–that includes cleaning the house! I agree that a little music helps get me going, doing and then finishing up!! We should think of cleaning as a form of exercise-getting two things done at once! Keeping my home clean and serving home-cooked meals is important to me. I want my working hubby to come home, relax and enjoy the fruits of his labor!! I have a “fetish” about not wanting to appear or be called lazy. While I don’t work outside home anymore–I still volunteer a lot at church, cook meals & clean some for hubby & take care of my aging father in assisted living! I want to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant”-that will be my success!!
Blessings 🙂
Sarah Mae says
Thank you, and I’m so glad it was encouraging to you!
Chari of CIC says
Thank you for sharing Sarah Mae! I love myself a nice cup of tea! I don’t like to clean my home but listening to music or an inspirational podcast does help a lot! God bless!