Day 8: Overcoming

For the month of October, I am joining TONS of other bloggers by linking up with The Nester for 31 day blogging challenge where we post about one topic each day for the whole month.  After lots of consideration, I have chosen to take a journey through this book, 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha Home the Mary Way, by Sarah Mae.  Check out more information about the book from my 1st post here, and see my intro post with the links to the entire series here.

Today's reading had me in tears.  Yesterday, as I reflected on "The Curse", I stated that I used the fact that cleaning had no eternal value as an excuse.  Today's reading hit me like a ton of bricks.

"We have to keep our eye on the eternal value of our work. If we are in Christ, then everything we do not only has value here on earth, but it has value for eternity." - page 20 of 31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae

Our work at home has eternal value.  The work I do in my home DOES have an eternal value...

"How we take care of our domains – how we stay on task – is all about our response to God. He gave us our domains. He gave us, as women, the ability to give life to them!  We have to decide what our response to Him will be. Will we respond grudgingly and feel hopeless because it’s just another “rule” to follow, or will we accept our tasks with joy; giving thanks for all the goodness and blessings we have been given?" - page 20 of 31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae

How I care for my home is directly correlated with my response to God.  It is in my obedience to Him, that I can find strength and comfort.  That I can overcome, and choose to give life to my home.  It is a daily, some times hourly or minutely choice, but it is mine to choose.  I can honor my family, and serve them best when our home is a place of life.

On another note, I am LOVING the 6 list.  I got all but one of the things done my first day!  I think that this will really help me to make sure I am able to succeed in the things that I need to succeed at.

Martha Challenge:

Before:

After:

 

It isn't perfect, but it is neater, easier to find food, and there is no more expired food in my pantry.  I'm a happy girl. Do you struggle to give life to your home?  How do you overcome the struggle?