This morning's devotional thought was I Cor. 16:14 "Let all your things be done with charity." This word "charity" is the Greek word agape, which means love, as in affection or benevolence. It's thinking and acting toward a person with kindly affection, and giving willingly of oneself for their sake, desiring to promote their prosperity and happiness. Some things are easy to do with love, but ALL things? Not so easy..

When it comes to performing certain tasks, doing them with love comes almost naturally. Things like making a gift for someone, or fixing up a surprise for a spouse. But what about the daily, mundane things, like washing dishes? picking up after someone? changing a stinky diaper? It's not always easy to conjure up affection while doing some of those! But the verse above says ALL things.

Agape love simply does not come naturally to any son of Adam or daughter of Eve. It takes effort, on purpose. Most of the times it takes denial of self and feelings. It's just not possible to feel affectionate and benevolent toward others, while having a mental pity party for yourself! ..But I'm finding out that that is one of the beauties of doing all things with agape. Once "self" is out of the way, there is real joy in doing those mundane tasks!

An old friend of mine has got me to thinking about Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha. They are mentioned several times in the gospels, and were very good friends of the Lord Jesus. They lived in Bethany, which was located just about two miles from Jerusalem.

This is the Mary who anointed Jesus with expensive ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair. This is the same Martha who toiled in the kitchen, complaining to the Lord that her sister had left her to do all the work. Both sisters expressed the tiniest smidge of doubt when their brother Lazarus had died and Jesus showed up four days "late," so they thought. It makes me smile when I think of how I can relate to these very human people!

With all their quirks, these three, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, had a home in which the Lord Jesus felt welcome. Several times when Jesus was in Jerusalem, pressed by crowds, selflessly ministering to people, teaching those who would listen, and being wearied by hypocritical Pharisees asking pointless questions in order to trap him with his words... we see Him at the end of the day, resorting to Bethany to rest in the house of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

What was it about these particular people that made Jesus feel welcome in their home?

I think, first of all, they were humble. Humility is willingness to yield. Humility is the absence of pride. When humility hears a Word from the Lord, it says, "I will obey." Jesus could recognize pride immediately, and always rebuked it. No doubt Lazarus, Mary, and Martha must have been humble people.

It follows that they were also obedient. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." A simple thing, even if it is easier said than done sometimes. There is no clearer demonstration of our love for God, than our obedience to Him.

Due to their obedience, I believe they were people who lived a holy lifestyle. Holiness is very underrated these days, and many preachers never preach about it, because it makes people uncomfortable. "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation [lifestyle]; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."

Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were not without their flaws, as we have seen. But I think the key to having a home where Jesus feels welcome is found in our heart attitudes. We should be aware of our shortcomings, willing to listen to His Word, and ready to yield and make changes as He deems best.

An attitude like that is like a big, cheery sign on the door that says, Jesus is welcome here!

That word schedule is used loosely here, mind you. Plan sounds more flexible, doesn't it? In my quest to balance the responsibilities of housekeeping, childrearing, and homeschooling, I've tried a few things, including Flylady.net.

I chose to unsubscribe from Flylady after a year, but I've come away with some good ideas: Shine your sink each night (the clean tends to spread to the rest of the kitchen). Babysteps (breaking monumental tasks into more manageable, bite-sized pieces). Clutter can't be organized, it can only be thrown out. Routines. (This is great for cleaning, but is necessary for school.) I'm now working these ideas into a family schedule that works for us.

Flylady divides the house into zones, and you work in one zone all week. I like the zones, but need to work in each of them every week. So here's the rundown:

Monday: Livingroom & floors (Because this is the first thing you see when you walk into my house, and it's typically a bit disastrous after the weekend and no housework done on the Lord's Day.)

Tuesday: Master bedroom (If I don't make it a zone, it might get neglected. Sad, but true.)

Wednesday: Sewing/Music room (Creativity all over this place. Enough said.)

Thursday: Bathrooms & floors (These get attention every day, but get a more thorough cleaning once a week.)

Friday: Schoolroom (Desks cleaned out, floors done, teacher's desk decluttered.)

Saturday: Children's rooms & Family closet (Is there any explanation needed here? :o)

The zone cleaning is done in the afternoon, after school and lunch.

Somebody gave me the book Managers of Their Homes, by Steven & Teri Maxwell. Have any of you read it? I've flipped through it, and must admit the charts and things look intimidating to me. If you have read it, please tell me if it was helpful to you. I plan to read it soon, and will post my opinions as well.

I also have a Daily Plan (the word schedule carefully avoided here, hee hee), which outlines my day by the hour. It is working a lot better than the "Fly By the Seat of Your (proverbial) Pants" Method.

We've had a project abrewin' at our house. Ever since we heard about the concept of a family closet, we have been excited about implementing the idea.

The beauty of having a family closet is that all of the clothes in the house are located in one room, so putting away laundry is MUCH easier. Another benefit is that there is more space in the bedrooms when you don't have a dresser in each.

Phase one of the Family Closet Project was to clean out a small room that used to be our boys' room. Daniel took out all of the furniture, then I cleaned and swept in there. After giving it a fresh coat of paint, we were ready to put in shelves.

Phase two was choosing and installing shelving. We had to assess how much space we had in there, what type of shelves to use, and how to put them in without crowding the clothing too much. We chose metal shelves over wood, because although they are not as pretty, the metal does not retain moisture, and humidity can be a problem here.

The skylight in this room will also help keep humidity at bay.

Daniel put the shelves together, then anchored them to the wall.


We put down some shelf lining, and now the closet is ready to move everyone's clothes in.



During this process, I've been sorting through the children's clothes, passing down what needed to be passed down, and tossing what is worn out.

Another nice thing about our new Family Closet is that it is right next to the laundry room. No more folding the laundry on the couch, then having to deliver the stacks to separate rooms. Woo-hoo!

This is the recipe for a simple, cheap, but very effective all-purpose cleaner that I use in my home:

1 cup distilled water
1 cup isopropyl alcohol
5 drops peppermint oil
5 drops lavender oil

Put all ingredients into a spray bottle and use to clean and disinfect surfaces in the kitchen, bathroom, or anywhere. It will clean windows and mirrors, and floors too. I have noticed that when I wipe down the table and high chair with this cleaner, flies do not land there! I'm told the lavender oil repels flies and other bugs.