Eyes 2 Jesus

Cleaning Routines

What type of cleaning routine do you do? Some women don't have any cleaning routines established. They simply let the house get out of hand, and then do a big, marathon cleaning. The big cleaning event takes a lot of work, effort, and time, and may leave the woman exhausted when she is finally done. Further, the house stays clean for a day, if that long, and then it's messy all over again.

People who do have cleaning routines tend to either clean a room a day, or they divide the house into zones, and focus on a zone for each cleaning session. Others like to do all of their cleaning on a specified cleaning day each week.

I personally don't use any of the above types of routines. I prefer Task Cleaning. With Task Cleaning, you are doing one or more specific cleaning task throughout the whole house, each day.

How to Set Up a Task Cleaning Routine

1. Write a list of all of your main cleaning tasks. Do not include deep cleaning, such as spring cleaning duties. We'll get to those in a few moments.

A sample list may look like the following:

Dust
Clean mirrors and TV/computer screens
Wipe down all counters, tables, and other surfaces
Clean sinks
Clean bathtubs and showers
Clean toilets
Sweep and mop hard floors
Vacuum rugs and carpets

2. Next, decide which days of the week you want to do your cleaning tasks. I suggest you assign Monday-Friday, and take the weekends off. Better yet, why not assign just four days a week, and use the fifth weekday for running errands and getting groceries? For example, if you decided that you like getting groceries on Fridays, and you want to take the weekends off, then you can assign your cleaning tasks on Monday-Thursday. Your Task Cleaning Routine may look similar to the following:

NOTE: With task cleaning, you are doing one or more specified cleaning task all over the whole house, not just in one room. For example, if your specified task was cleaning sinks, then you would go from sink to sink, cleaning ALL of the sinks in your house. This may only be in the kitchen and bathrooms, or you may also have a sink in your laundry room, at a bedroom vanity, etc. Clean all sinks when this is your assigned task.

Mondays - Dust; Clean mirrors, TV/computer screens; Clean all kitchen and laundry appliances

Tuesdays - Wipe all tables and counters; Clean sinks; change all trashes

Wednesdays - Clean tubs and showers; Clean toilets

Thursdays - Sweep and mop; Vacuum

Fridays - Change all trashes; Run errands and get groceries

What About Laundry?

Some people have one or two days a week for laundry day(s). Others don't have any assigned laundry time, they just wash clothes when they run out. I prefer to have a laundry schedule, and do a bit of laundry each day - Monday-Friday. Why not try this, and add it to your Task Cleaning routine? Below is a sample laundry schedule:

Mondays - All sheets/bedding and other laundry, etc.

Tuesdays - Towels, rags, washcloths

Wednesdays - Younger children's laundry

Thursdays - Your and your husband's laundry

Fridays - Older children do their own laundry - you supervise them if needed

Deep Cleaning, Organizing, Decluttering, Projects

Now that you have a cleaning and laundry routine in place, what about spring cleaning, decluttering, and organization projects? I personally never do a spring cleaning. Instead, I make a list of spring cleaning projects, and work on these projects a little bit, here and there throughout the year.

Make a Projects List. On this list, include deep cleaning, organization projects, decluttering projects if needed, etc. Then, assign yourself 15 minutes a day, on each cleaning day to work on one of those projects from your list. Just 15 minutes a day on a project is all you need.

Putting it all Together

Now that you have created cleaning task, laundry, and project lists, why not put them all together into the ultimate cleaning routine? Your complete cleaning routine may now look like the following:

Mondays - All sheets/bedding and other laundry; Dust; Clean mirrors, TV/computer screens; Clean all kitchen and laundry appliances; 15 minutes on a project

Tuesdays - Towels, rags, washcloth laundry; Wipe all tables and counters; Clean sinks; change all trashes; 15 minutes on a project

Wednesdays - Younger children's laundry; Clean tubs and showers; Clean toilets; 15 minutes on a project

Thursdays - Your and your husband's laundry; Sweep and mop; Vacuum; 15 minutes on a project

Fridays - Older children do their own laundry; Change all trashes; Run errands and get groceries

Don't Forget Room Chores, Table Chores, and House Tidy Times

In addition to your daily cleaning and laundry tasks, you also need to do your room chores when you awake each morning. A room chore routine may look like the following:

Straighten bedside tables
Air the bed
Get dressed and prettied for the day
Tidy up bedroom and bathroom
Make the bed after breakfast

Don't forget table chores. These are the chores that need to be done after each meal. Have your children do these chores with you after each meal, and table chores will be a snap. Example table chores:

Clear table and put away leftovers
Wash dishes
Wipe table, counters, and stove
Straighten chairs and sweep the floor

A fantastic order-keeping routine is a Quick House Tidy. Do this before your husband comes home from work, before you go to bed at night, and at any other times during the day when the house seems to need it. To do a Quick House Tidy, you simply start at one of the house, throw away trash, and put things away. Quickly wipe up any little messes you see along the way, such as toothpaste splatters on the sink in the bathroom. Work from one end of the house to the other. If you've kept up with your other cleaning routines, then a Quick House Tidy should take no more than 5 minutes, but can make a big impact on your home environment in a very good way.

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation

The terms "Christian" and "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" have been thrown around so much, that for many people, they have lost their original savor. What is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it going to church? Is it being a "good person?" Is it via doing certain rituals, or following certain traditions? No, it is so much simpler than that.

"Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me." -Revelation 3:20 CEB

Let Jesus into your heart and life. Put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins. Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? Did you know that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that just looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same thing as committing adultery in your heart?

Many people will say I'm a good person. Sure, I've stolen a few paper clips in my time, and I've told some lies, but I've never killed anyone, so I'm good enough for heaven. Don't be so sure. Have you ever felt hatred toward someone? If so, then you are guilty of committing murder in your heart:

"Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them." -1 John 3:15 CEB

If you have stolen, lied, lusted after someone, hated someone, loved someone or something more than God, etc., then you have broken at least 5 of the Ten Commandments. Do you really think you'd make it to heaven? Not according to God's Word:

"Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CEB

"That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." -1 Corinthians 6:11 CEB

Even Mary, the woman chosen by God to be a vessel that would carry Jesus in her womb, was a sinner, and in need of a Savior:

"In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior." - Mary said this in Luke 1:47 (CEB). Only sinners need a Savior, and Mary also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

"This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.” If we claim, “We have fellowship with him,” and live in the darkness, we are lying and do not act truthfully. But if we live in the light in the same way as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." -1 John 1:5-8 CEB

The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sins. Jesus came to this earth to die to pay for our sins. You see, Leviticus tells us that 'the life is in the blood,' and that it takes spilt blood to atone for sin.

When we choose to truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to live our lives for Christ, then Christ's spilt blood cleanses us from our sins:

"Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool." -Isaiah 1:18 CEB

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son." - Jesus said this, in John 3:16-18 (CEB)

"Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. The scripture says, All who have faith in him won’t be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11 CEB

"There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus" -1 Timothy 2:5 CEB

"Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin." -Hebrews 4:14-15 CEB

"Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?" -Matthew 15:3 CEB

"Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory." -1 Timothy 3:16 CEB

If Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, then I hope that you will let Him into your heart and life this very moment.

"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 CEB

Jesus is the way. If you would like to receive Jesus into your heart and life, then let Him know. Pray to the Lord, telling Him that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Tell this to God in your own words, from your heart.

"The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23 CEB

"You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ." -Ephesians 1:13 CEB

When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. You are sealed as a child of God.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior, and you believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place, to pay the death penalty for your sins, and that Christ rose from the dead three days later, and you are ready to let Him lead your life, and you will live for Him, then you are saved, and born again.

You are now a saved Child of God, with the Holy Spirit living within you. Dedicate your life to the Lord, and live for Him. Please get a Bible (I suggest the Common English Bible - CEB) and turn to the Gospel of John. That is the fourth book in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, then you can read it for free, online - here.

After you've read the Gospel of John, go on to read Acts, and then Romans. These three books will bring you through the Gospel, the early church, and basic Christian doctrine. After you've read these three, then turn to the beginning of the New Testament, and read it all the way through. After that, read both the Old and New Testaments.

You should also follow the Lord and get baptized in water. A Believer's Baptism doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ saves you. A Believer's Baptism is an outward showing of your salvation. It symbolizes you being born again. When you are lowered under the water, it shows you dying to your old self, and when you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes you being born again, as a new creature in Christ. This is called a Believer's Baptism, because, according to the Bible, a person is supposed to get baptized after they have believed on Christ. Anyone who was "baptized" before having faith in Christ just got wet - nothing more. You don't need to find a church to get baptized in. Any born again Christian can baptize you in any acceptable body of water - even a public swimming pool.

Find a good, local church congregation to attend. Search in your area for a Nazarene church, Foursquare church, or non-denominational Full-Gospel church.

Immerse yourself in the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you. It is also your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.