I'm Not a Clean Freak...Really, I'm Not

There may be a problem with me. I'm not a "clean freak," even though my daughter over heard someone tell another person that I was. But I do feel really accomplished if I clean my house every week, not like everything is sanitary and sparkling, but wiped down and somewhat picked up.

It's always in the back of my mind if I haven't changed my sheets or there is a ring around my bath tub. I'm not talking about the stack of books that we are reading or the basket of toys dumped from a little one, that's all just life happening. I just love to get to do my Saturday cleaning.

I don't know why I'm this way, but maybe-

• It's the thought of a ninety year old woman, bent double still cleaning houses to make a living (she worked for my mom for years when I was a teenager)
• It's the years of design school that taught me that appearance is everything (I know, not true)
• It's because I stumble and trip over anything on the floor, especially shoes
• It's the knowledge that God is a God of order and it is good for things to be orderly

I have come a long ways. This morning I brushed aside the crumbs from the table cloth and out of the seat in the chair to have my quiet time. There was a time not too many years ago that I wouldn't have been able to even sit in that room, much less been able to read my Bible with such a mess. I would try to leave one room picked up before I went to bed every night so that I could have a spot to read my Bible with out going on a ridiculous straightening frenzy.

I have a friend who posted about how thrilled she was to have just spent three hours gardening. My first thought was to announce how excited I was that I just spent three hours cleaning the garage, actually, I was a little giddy. If you had seen how dirty it was you would totally understand. But what is it that makes me so beside myself to get something clean?

When my family came home from a fun day out all day long, I actually had them take a trip to the garage so that I could show them all my hard work. There was the obligatory oohs and aahs, then life went on, but I'm going to sleep tonight knowing that all of the coolers in my garage have been scrubbed today.

Yea.... I may have a problem.

Now, reading this, a person could get the idea that our home is spotless, it isn't. The dust bunnies in the dining room do not make up for a mopped garage floor. I'll tackle those little monsters another day.