Bright Week

It still feels Easter-y here, and I think it's due in large part to the spring cleaning. I'm so glad I did surfaces instead of baseboards! I think that, for once, I actually did a good job in figuring out what one thing would have the biggest impact. Not having piles on the major surfaces in the house (tops of tables, shelves, etc.) makes the whole house feel brighter and bigger.

And more peaceful. I think I'm going to have to keep this one up. I've been doing it so far, just by following the "if I notice it, I have to pick it up" rule.

I'm amazed, over and over again, at how homemaking absolutely pounds some of the Proverbs into my head. I'm thinking of verses like, "A litte sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and your poverty will come upon you like a bandit, your want like an armed man." Just one day of not picking up, of being too lazy to do the dishes . . . and my home is a disaster. It's like instant gratification. If you're gratified by seeing vice recieve its just deserts, that is.

There's something nice though, in the tangibility of housework. My mom always said that she liked housework because she could see the results of her labor. There's a lot in life that's not like that, but housework is, again, instant gratification. You don't clean the kitchen floor and then, a month later, have the joy of bare feet on clean wood. You get that nice, sweet feeling under your toes right away. (Can you tell that unswept kitchen floors, in this house, mean that awful "ugh, Cheerio crumbs" feeling underfoot?)

It's almost as if God invented housework to increase our faith in virtue being its own reward, it's such good analogy fodder. Like He was saying, "See, how constant vigilance in your housework allows for a peaceful home? So constant prayer allows for a peaceful heart." Or something like that. I would not put words in His mouth. But I think there's something there, somewhere.

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica