Planner University - Homemaking: Part Three

Deep Cleaning, and Special Organization Projects

A lot of ladies have a list of special cleaning and organizing they do, during Spring Cleaning. I don't know about you, but I don't want to do spring cleaning at that time, but would rather plan my garden, and work on that, and plan time to just sit outside, and smell spring and enjoy the beauty budding around me.

Therefore, I don't do spring cleaning, and I suggest you don't either. I have a better idea... :-)

Why not make a list of deep cleaning and organizing that would normally be "spring cleaning" tasks, but instead, just work on a little bit of that list through out the year? Do you have tile grout that needs cleaned or bleached once or twice a year? Then put that on your projects list. Do you have soap scum that eventually builds up in the shower, to where you need to do a super hard cleaning a few times a year, other than your usual cleaning of those surfaces? Put that on your projects list.

Other things for your project list may include:

- Taking apart and cleaning light fixtures

- Spot cleaning walls, doors, and light switches

- Cleaning out heating/air conditioning vents

- Cleaning behind and under furniture and large appliances

- Emptying, and super-cleaning the deep freeze/freezer chest

- Organizing the garage/attic

- Going through all your children's clothes and organizing all closets


The list can get pretty long, and that is okay. What I suggest, is that you make a Projects List, then schedule one or two days a week to tackle a project from the list. This doesn't have to be daunting. You can decide to do a whole project once or twice a week, or if it is a big project, you can divide it up into 15 minute increments, and just work on it for 15 minutes a day, once or twice a week.

You have a whole year to do all the projects on your list, instead of just the spring, so there is no hurry.

Are you at a loss as to what to put on your Projects list? If so, follow the below steps:

1) Add some or all of the applicable example projects listed above to your list

2) With paper and pen in hand, walk into each room of your house, and just look around. Anything that is out of order, or obviously needs a deep clean, or something that you don't like and want to change should be added to your list.

3) Now that you have these things scribbled down as a list, decide if you want to leave the list in the order it is already in, or if you want to change around the order. Put it in whatever order you want. There are no rules, here.

You see? It's as easy as 1-2-3. Now, just write, or print out your projects list, and add it to your planner.

Extended Cleaning

Next to your projects list, set up another piece of paper for "Extended Cleaning." This is where you write down things that MUST be deep cleaned or re-organized either monthly, bi-annually, or annually. You may find that many things you would normally put on this list are already on your Projects list. Therefore, just use your Extended Cleaning list to remind you of the most important things.

If you can make it fit, it is handy to have the Projects list on the left facing page, and the Extended Cleaning list on the right facing page, so that you can always view both pages together. If you are typing and printing these lists, this shouldn't be a problem. However, if you choose to write out your lists instead, then don't force it to work this way, as you may need more paper, and more room, and that is fine.

As you may have noticed in the above picture, I have a little, pink, Post-It flag on my Projects List. I like to move this along my list, as I complete each project, so that I can keep my place. When I have completed the projects on the list, I move the flag back up to the top, and I start over on the list. This means my Projects are done one to three times a year.

Alternate Cleaning

Many women experience extreme fatigue when it is their time of the month. Therefore, it is a good idea to have an alternate cleaning plan. This would be a cleaning plan you can follow if you are very fatigued, or perhaps you have a cold, or are recovering from sickness.

This is a type of quick cleaning plan, where you are hitting the major necessities, such as cleaning the toilets, wiping counters, and keeping the house picked up, but you are doing minimal work each day, until you get your strength back.

To make this list, write down the minimum cleaning for each day, and then look at the cleaning tasks you didn't list for each day, and write those in as Children's Chores for alternate cleaning days or weeks. Each child should have no more than one or two of these chores per day.

The Emergency Quick Clean

Sometimes you've had an unexpectedly busy week, or family was visiting, or you were just off your normal routine, and your house has gotten away from you. For times like these, it's good to have an Emergency Quick Clean plan in place, to get your house back in order in just 45 minutes to a few hours time.

I share my Emergency Quick Clean plan here. It is only nine simple steps.

Either create your own Emergency Quick Clean, or copy my nine steps down, and put this page in your planner.

In the next installment in this series, we are going to finish up the homemaking section.

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.

Jesus says:

"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

But there is good news:

"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

We are all sinners:

"All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory" -Romans 3:23 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.

We are all imperfect, fallible sinners:

"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

Jesus tells us this:

"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)

Paul gives us a simple "step by step process" on how to be saved:

"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

Jesus is our one and only mediator:

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

Jesus is our High Priest:

"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

We are to follow the Lord and the Bible, not traditions of people:

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

Jesus is God:

"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

Have you built your foundation on the Rock of Salvation?

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

Believe, and Receive:

"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.