Spring Cleaning

It is that time of year again...time for spring cleaning!  One thing that has been bothering me lately is the huge amount of stuff that we have accumulated and collected in our house.  So I announced to Jon (to his delight, as this is something he would do every two months!) the other day that I was going to spend the month of April sorting, organizing, and cleaning the house.  Sounds fun right?  I think so, but maybe that is just me.  I'm looking forward to having all of the random 'important' papers filed away and my craft supplies in an organized section.  I'm actually looking forward to dust free blinds, although around here in the desert that won't last long.  I am really looking forward to a more organized bookshelf.  I'm seriously looking forward to taking our huge pile of plastic grocery bags back to the store to be recycled!  The clutter has got to go!  I want little things that junk up our cabinets to have a 'home' so that our home can be a place to relax. 

After I told Jon that I was ready to start spring cleaning, he informed me of his topic of messages with the youth for the next month: "Simplify Your Life - Making Room For Greatness".  It is actually a series dealing with a Spiritual Spring Cleaning.  What a perfect time to be learning and discussing ways to de-clutter our busy lives so that we can focus on following God.  The first message was tonight and I have been thinking about how applicable it is to start examining my sometime chaotic life and determine what bad habits need to go and what good habits need to start taking root. 

Jon's outline for the students had a section that stated:

Jesus had time for...
Deep Relationships
Rest
Influence
Quiet
Greatness
God

How often are those things that Jesus took time for, the very things that our busy and hectic lives squeeze out?  I challenge you to examine your life and take time to "spring clean" your heart.  Let's start saying yes to the things that God values and no to the things that will clutter our minds, lives, and hearts.  He values our relationship with Him (Ephesians 3:17-19), our relationships with people around us (1 Thessalonians 2:8), and our rest and renewal by taking a Sabbath day (Isaiah 58:13-14).  Saying no to people or things and de-cluttering is a hard thing to do but I hope that my Heavenly Father is pleased with my choices in life.