A Clean House and Other Misconceptions

Around the beginning of January, I asked on Facebook for ideas of writing topics this year.  My real-life friend, Allyson said, "I want to know if your house is always as clean as it is when I see it."

My short answer is no. 

You can't see my house right now with the wet towel crumpled in the kitchen floor and dirty cups scattered on the counter. You don't see the crooked bedspreads and the sheets that needed to be changed last week and the bag of stuff for Goodwill that's been hanging out in the floor since yesterday. You didn't see the toilet paper and puddle of water I mopped up from behind the toilet, the other puddle where someone missed the toilet altogether, and the toothpaste splatters on the sink a few hours ago. You don't see the stuffed fish and the little jar of lip gloss fallen on its side on the coffee table right in front of me.

No, my house is not always as clean as it looks when I prepare for guests.

The longer answer is more complicated. 

I like a clean and neat house so I do work to keep it that way.  Sure, our house is lived in and there's daily evidence that seven people share this space (see above), but it's a rare day now when the clutter or dust in our house get out of control.

I could tell you how I clean a little bit each day.  I rarely do a whole-house, scrub-from-top-to-bottom clean. I might vacuum a couple of rooms one day.  Clean a bathroom another.  Wipe a window sill when it gets dusty...

I could tell you how we won't go to bed with a messy house. I could tell you how I've taught my kids to make their beds every morning and how they all know how to pitch in to straighten the living room or dry the dishes or start a load of laundry.

But the thing is, each of us is different and each of our homes is different.  Neither of us lives under the same circumstances so we can't compare our lives or our homes to those of anyone else. No one has your temperament, your personality, the same number of kids you have with the identical ages, and your health status. No one is married to your husband with his work schedule. No one shares the responsibilities you have at church or school or home or work.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, " 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."


The Lord guides each of us as individuals. He knows each of us intimately and it is freeing when we abandon the comparison game, when we no longer have to strive to meet a standard that we were never asked to meet.

When we are weak, He is strong.