Cleanliness Next to Godliness?

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WhiteDove

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Uh, just one more poll. I was wondering, for one thing, is tidiness a spiritual virtue??? Uh, since I’ve gotten addicted to this forum, I’ve noticed, er, it’s taken a little turn for the worse in the tidiness dept. around here. :o I’m not a total slob, but this time of year I usually let the inside of my house kinda take on a more ‘lived in look’ if ya know what I mean. 😉 For one thing, I’m building that stone mini-chapel in my backyard. It’s really making progress! 👍 It takes a lot of time you know, getting the stones, hauling the mortar mix, fitting the stones together… Then, there’s the new puppy… She keeps moving shoes around, the little rascal! Plus, I took on more shifts at work, and keeping up on the garden is an unending task… and rechecking all the interesting threads here is much more fun than cleaning the bathroom.

So, what do you all think? Am I earning time in Purgatory by letting things slide around here??? My living room still looks good! And, what kind of housekeeper are you all?
 
I don’t think it’s bad, what you’re doing. The pursuits that are keeping you away from more housework are good and pious, it seems, so I see little harm in letting things get a bit “untidy.”

Of course, I’m a young guy who’s never had to do any housework … and my room is a tiny space covered by books and CDs. Perhaps my (name removed by moderator)ut is not quite valid? 😛

Ah well! Figured I’d give you my two cents anyway. God bless you!
 
I didn’t vote. Here’s why…

I think there needs to be a distinction between cleanliness and tidiness…my house is very CLEAN, however I’d drive myself batty trying to keep it really tidy with 6 people here.
 
I needed one more choice between the doing laundry choice and veritable pigsty choice… I’ve been known to run to the grocery store for “necessary” items when I haven’t time to do laundry :o , but the living room is always presentable 😃 .
 
My house has to be organized. My CD’s are in alphabetical order, so are my video games and DVD’s. My closet is colour-coded, I file every piece of paper I recieve in the mail and from school and keep it for a year for income tax and budgeting purposes.The dishes HAVE to be done in a specific order, bowls, small plates, big plates, silverware, mugs, plastic cups, glassware, than pots and pans last. When the laundry basket is full, i have to do the laundry, it doesn’t matter what time of night it is. I think i really do have OCD, my fiance thinks so too. Right now, I just moved in to a new place with a roommate and it is so disorganized, I want to cry and tear my hair out!!
 
LOL, I guess I goofed up my poll in that regard! 😃 To me, the two sort of go hand and hand, as far as work alloted and time spent on it. Anyways, after making this poll, I whipped through the kitchen, mopped the floor, straighten up disorder, started on the upstairs, and things are looking better! One thing about me is that when I work, I’m fast!

Everyone seems to have their own comfort zone, and I think was reached yesterday. :o
 
Whewww!.. I’m gald I with the majority here (middle of the road) and if it wasn’t for our two Labrador Retrivers…all my shoes would be in the closet:rotfl:
~~God Bless
Kayla
 
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raphaela:
My house has to be organized. My CD’s are in alphabetical order, so are my video games and DVD’s. My closet is colour-coded, I file every piece of paper I recieve in the mail and from school and keep it for a year for income tax and budgeting purposes.The dishes HAVE to be done in a specific order, bowls, small plates, big plates, silverware, mugs, plastic cups, glassware, than pots and pans last. When the laundry basket is full, i have to do the laundry, it doesn’t matter what time of night it is. I think i really do have OCD, my fiance thinks so too. Right now, I just moved in to a new place with a roommate and it is so disorganized, I want to cry and tear my hair out!!
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You remind me of my husband. I am such a penance for him! 😃 Right now I am looking for the leather case for my cellphone and the $25 gift card to Red Lobster I got from Club Mom. I know they’re in the house somewhere…
 
Laundry is always done on Mondays (though I may have to add another day as the baby gets older and my 1 1/2 year old boy gets messier!). Dishes are loaded in the dishwasher every night by my wonderful husband (I cook the meals, he cleans up afterwards), and unloaded by him in the morning. Vacuuming is done twice a week… Don’t ask me about dusting, though!! All in all, things stay pretty clean and it really doesn’t take that much time, though it can get messy with toys since we have a 3 1/2 year old, 20 month old, and 3 month old…
 
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WhiteDove:
So, what do you all think? Am I earning time in Purgatory by letting things slide around here??? My living room still looks good! And, what kind of housekeeper are you all?
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I think it depends on why you are letting things slide. If your are just being slothful then I think the purgatory minutes are racking up. If however you are letting things slide to spend quality time with your family or catching up on back issues of This Rock magazine then I think the minutes are ticking off.
Personally I think it’s more important to play catch with my sons than to organize the shoes in the front closet.
 
I was definately on the clutter, can’t find things, struggle with dishes, piles of papers and stuff, end of things until we were given a HUGE GIFT!!! We are expecting #4 in early August and live in a house which my husband is still building (unfinished drywall, closets, shelves etc). While we were away for a week several friends (8 families in all) went to town on our house. All piles of junk GONE–new (yardsale) furniture with fresh coats of paint. New orginization for bathroom, kitchen, bedroom. New beds and bedding for the kids even!! Curtains (which nicely hide the unfinished window trim), and throw rugs. It was BEAUTIFUL–and clutter free!! (Yes is was like one of those TV shows, and I was weeping as I walked through my house) I quickly signed on to flylady.com (or .net?) and began a gentle but freeing routine to stay on top of the buisness of living in my new house. It has helped SO much–every aspect of family life has been improved by living in an attractive and orginized space–we have more leasure, more sense of peace, and more fun! Not too hard to see how this can bring one closer to God!

Now my circle of friends is talking about helping one another to get on top of the nightmares in our houses. Need a day to shovel out the basement? Get a mothers helper for all the kids, pot luck lunch, and we’ll all spend a day helping to dig through and orginize.
 
I’m another “middle of the road” person. When you have kids it’s pretty hard to keep everything perfect! Before the kids my house was neat as a pin…sometimes I look back and think how it was nice to have a clean house, but it’s nicer to have a not-so-clean house that’s full of kids than a perfect house that’s empty. 😃

Somewhat off the topic, does anyone know who said, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”?
 
You know, I don’t necessarily think of myself as a super neat person - certainly not like my mother was. But recently I was out looking for an apartment. The landlords would take me through the units that would be available, but still had people living in them. And every single one was what I would classify as a pig sty! Dirty laundry strewn about the floor, dirty dishes piled up in the sink and counter, filthy bathrooms… I was very suspicious when the landlords said there were no problems with bugs! So now I figure that I must be in the 90th percentile of cleanliness. I had just never realized how a lot of people live.
 
:rotfl: Okay. I possess one outstanding domestic quality:

I LIVE IN A HOUSE.
Does that answer your question?
 
Here is a poem I wrote on contemplating just these questions.
It’s called “My Son.”

A dandelion in a grimy fist:
¡°This is for you.¡±
Soap bubbles on the porch,
Happy Meal toys in the tub,
socks strewn under the beds,
Cookie crumbs under the car seat,
Peanut butter on the TV.

What has become of that tidy, quiet existence
That was my life,
Until I welcomed a guest into my house,
Into my heart,
Who has taken firm root.

I will put the dandelion in a crystal vase,
Or better yet, a plastic one,
And relive again the wonders of
Green Eggs and Ham.
 
NO! It is next to impossible.

I think WhiteDove deserves bonus points for coming up with a poll that has a nice bell curve.
 
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raphaela:
The dishes HAVE to be done in a specific order, bowls, small plates, big plates, silverware, mugs, plastic cups, glassware, than pots and pans last.
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Raphaela, don’t you want to do the glassware first so it gets washed in the cleanest water and ends up sparkling? 😉

I’m just playing with you! I can’t remember the last time I actually washed dishes myself - I would die without the dishwasher! I have absolutely no right to tell anyone how to do dishes!! 😃

Betsy
 
You have a point betsy!!!LOL!!

But i forgot to mention that after the silver ware, i change the water!! It woudl be nice to have a dishwasher, but that would be a huge luxury right now!!!
 
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