Spring Cleaning

Yep - it's that time again. At least for us Floridians, the weather beckons for me to prepare for spring by cleaning out and cleaning up. That said, we had our first free Saturday in a month yesterday and it was dedicated to spring cleaning the outside.

We started with the garage and let me tell you, the kids figured out quick that if they wanted to keep it, they better have a good reason and a place to put it, cause momma was in a "just throw it away" mood. I have the ability to be a pack rat - like any good mother, I save all those firsts of the kids, all of the things for crafts that we may use one day (but haven't for 10 years), etc. Well, yesterday was purging day and the trash men may not like us tomorrow! The garage really didn't take that long, though, since we just cleaned out there just before Christmas.

Next was the back porch and backyard. I need to take some pics to show you what we did so you can see the change, but I haven't yet. Many of you know that we have a large bar (really just a counter shaped like a U) on the porch that was left here for us by the previous owner. While it is extremely functional, it is also massive and positioned right in the middle of the porch so that we really couldn't work around it. I was ready to sell it on Craig's List or put it out for the trash with a free sign on it, that is how much it just bothered me. Mark felt like we needed to keep it though, since it houses all of the pool chemicals. Well, I knew that there were other storage options, but still did not proceed with getting rid of the bar. So, while the kids and I cleaned out back, I had a brilliant idea. Why not just move the bar? Duh! Just a couple of screws to unscrew and 3 girls to push and pull and that baby was out of there! We moved it all the way down to the other end of the porch against the side window and in front of the sliders to our bedroom, which we never use anyway. Oh my goodness, the difference that made.

We then reorganized all of the chemicals, the pool supplies, the odds and ends out there and rearranged the seating area to be more of a little room in and of itself. It looks so cute and like a totally different room. We would love to fully enclose that room, but it is not in the budget right now, so this is the perfect compromise.

On top of all of that, we scrubbed down the screen pieces, did pool maintenance, trimmed up the trees (which we hope will prove to have survived our freezes this year), cut roots out of the ground, cleaned up the back yard, etc. We have not raked yet, though. The leaves are still furiously falling, so why rake? It was such a productive day with everyone being outside all day together, singing, working and playing. I love Florida in March! Oh, and we ended with a cookout and ate out back. Sorry if you still have snow!

Then, after all was done and the house was quiet, I was thinking about the great day we had and all that we accomplished and something hit me. Do we spend that same amount of time and effort to "clean out" our spiritual lives? I don't know about you, but I let junk start to clutter up my mind and my heart. Hurts, expectations, fears. Sometimes, my attitude just plain stinks. I am not always the wife/mother/friend/sister that I want or intend to be. But, I tend to tuck those things away and create piles in the corners of my brain and the secret places of my heart instead of cleaning them out. So, I will end this post by quoting what David said in Psalms 51:10:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

That is my prayer that I will remember as I continue my spring cleaning effort over the next couple of weeks. And, as I clean, I will remember to ask God to help me clean the inside, too. If spring is about change and new life, let it start in me! I'll continue to share my adventures as we go!