Becoming a Wife that Pleases the Lord

Honoring Our Husbands With a Sponge!

By: Lara Velez

We had a melt down this past week. Well, my husband did.

I have a confession to make...I have not mastered Mount Wash Me! LOL! I am a messy person...not a pig, just not neat. My husband is very neat and desires order.

I am usually able to keep it presentable. Unfortunately not nearly as neat as my dear husband would like. We had a busy month and it began to take its toll on the house. Then the volcano erupted. My husband was not mean, but VERY firm. He wants the house clean.

Now, the Lord has already been dealing with me on the subject. He wants me to be more balanced. I am actually going to be writing a series on balance.

I am certain that I am not the only messy wife out there, so I thought this would be a great topic for reverence month.

How can we honor our husbands with a sponge?

Clean! LOL! Seriously, does your husband prefer a neat home? If you think he does not care, I highly doubt it...even if he says he does not care. Deep down I think they do. I think it is important to come home to a clean and orderly castle. If you have children they NEED order to function well in life.

I believe that God WANTS us to keep a clean house. We do not need to become the next Martha Stewart. We DO need to have some sense of order though and a clean environment.

Below are some simple tips I have come up with to help me. I hope they help you too! :)

One thing you should really try to do is make yourself a cleaning schedule. Make a list of daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal chores. Then break them down. Put the schedule where you will see it (I put mine on my bedroom wall). Then, defer to it each morning. This will make life easier for you and you will feel like you are accomplishing something. Your husband and the Lord will be pleased as well.

Kitchen:

1. Clean as you go. Before you begin cooking, fill your sink up with hot soapy water. As you cook throw the dirty prep items in the soapy sink. After dinner, have everyone scrape their own dish in the trash and add it to the sink. You have saved yourself a TON of work...and time!
2. If you cannot mop every day, do a quick sweep. It will make a world of difference.
3. When you clean the counters each night, do a quick wipe down of your appliances. It saves you time in the long run.

Living Room:

1. If you have children, do not let them take over the living room with their toys. Let them have ONE toy at a time. They must put it back in its place BEFORE they bring another one out. This will save you stress and teach them order.
2. Get an attractive basket to place in your living room (this works in other rooms too). At the end of the day, use it to pick up all the items that do not live in your living room. Go around the house and drop items off in their proper homes.
3. Try to sweep or vacuum every day.

Bathroom:

1. If you have hard water, run the toilet brush and some bleach every night before you go to be. Then you will never see the stains in the toilet.
2. The bathroom should be done at least once a week. However, to save yourself time on cleaning days, wipe up as you go. Teach your family to do the same. Plus, if you get a surprise visitor, you won't be praying that they do not have to use the bathroom! LOL!
3. 3. Buy that shower spray that keeps your shower fresh. It really works. It make my cleaning MUCH easier. If that does not fit your budget, when you shower, throw some water on your shower door or curtain to rinse off the soap. It will cut down on the soap scum.

Bedrooms:

1. Make the bed every day. It really does make the whole room look better.
2. Wash the bedding weekly.
3. Get into the habit of putting clothes back or in the dirty clothes right away.
4. Keep dressers clear of clutter. The bedroom should be a stress free environment in any marriage.

General:

1. If you MUST have a junk drawer, limit yourself to ONLY ONE. Then schedule it to be cleaned once a month. Then it will not overflow into two junk drawers!
2. Pay attention. When you see the beginnings of a mess deal with it right away. It's when we continue to let things go that chaos comes.
3. Change your air conditioning filter once a month. It minimizes the dust when it is changed regularly and it keeps your air system healthy.

The most important thing is to keep God in everything you do. If we are good stewards with the home, apartment, or condo that He gave us, He will bless us. Plus, when we honor our husbands and do our best to please them, the Lord is pleased and we are blessed.

If the Lord delights in a man's way, He makes his steps firm; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. - Psalm 37:23-24

Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him. - John 14:21

Let us all learn to obey God and Love the Lord enough to reverence--honor and respect the husband that He gave us.

Please pray for me as I walk this road of Becoming a Wife that Pleases the Lord!

Til Next month,

Lara :)

Copyright © Lara Velez

Becoming a Wife that Pleases the Lord