Embracing January

Six things are requisite to create a happy home. Integrity must be the architect, and tidiness the upholsterer. It must be warmed by affection, and lightened with cheerfulness, and industry must be the ventilator, renewing the atmosphere and bringing in fresh salubrity day by day; while over all, as a protecting and glory, nothing will suffice except the blessings of God." ~Rev. Hamilton 1878 

WEEKEND - As I write I am sourly pickled in the thankless labor of *wheedling* out clutter from the home. It is a most unpleasant task and I am' half tempted to shirk the tiresome responsibility, eat a cake, and let it be. The work is laboring and ungodly languorous in its dopey senseless cloying cycle, sigh!  And no, I do not, honestly speaking, relish this drudgery one bit. ( Dear reader, I am complaining ridiculously in my mind through the tap tap of my fingers but not a single whine will be uttered by my person to a soul. ( i'll try....) 

This dusty distress must be dealt with and there is no one else to do it but me. Or, yes, actually, there is; I have a regular cleaning lady who comes in every 7 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. I can put her to the task but that would be freewheeling and unbecoming  of me, to say the least. It  is  enough that the sweet lady helps me so  quite expertly with the laundry. 
 Tweedling around inside cabinets and closets, sorting through books, old clothes, worn out bags, shoes, as well as, the gathering, sorting and filing of old documents, plus, a spade of other  dee' dums is solely to be my primary occupation for the next three days as entered in my weekly plan. Ah, this is not how I envisioned my "sparkly" 2013 to be, haha! --The heavens seeming sympathetic to my plebeian plight has gently showered tendrils of encouragement for me to grasp. It has come just when I most needed it as all the nitty grittys have me slowly sinking into a pit of deploring discouragement; tired, flustered and feeling unwell. 

The "15 Day Clutter Free Challenge" is a working blessing. As I go through a fresh routine of totally organizing and rearranging the inner storage of my home, I catch myself reeling from the bombardment of inner de-cluttering summons appearing one to the other in ferocious maniacal proportions! Ah, it is painfully herculean work, this fumigating of the insides, as I am time and again affronted with my own beloved antiquated flaws that have outlived their adolescent prime and desolately need disposing. More often, I am flustered and aghast with my sheer inability to live the education of what I have so meditatively poured my mind into that I cringe with frustration, my voice bleating thin, wan and weary. And then I realized that this is it - or that was it - what it was all about!

As my home comes to a new order, so does my whole way of being.   The process is messy but the outcome is serenity. Yes, January,  I embrace your beauty and grace and all the lessons I faced. And your remaining days I weave through my life with peace living this quote at heart:

" Perhaps now -- of all times-- when I am nearly bowed under physically, emotionally and psychologically by the minutiae of the mundane, is the very moment I need the reverence of poets who bear witness to the sacredness of  the ordinary. then perhaps I shall see, not just other people's belongings, but all the beauty, joy, and abundance that literally lies at my feet. "
                    ~ Sarah ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance

Prayer while organizing:
By Glynnis Whitwer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me so much responsibility. It shows Your trust in me. Help me to be a good steward of the assignments You have given me. Help clear the clutter in my mind as I work through this exercise. Bring things to mind that You want me to remember. It feels overwhelming to me right now, but I know with Your help, I can manage this. In Jesus name, Amen.

Lord, You know how hard it is for me to focus sometimes. It’s hard to figure out what needs to be done. I just feel overwhelmed and discouraged. I know You aren’t a God of confusion, so I ask for Your wisdom and clarity to help bring order to my chaotic mind. In Jesus name, Amen.