Chapter 1

PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER
Organizing Strategies Straight from the Word
by Debbie Williams  

Chapter One: Let’s Get It Together!

Daydreaming Exercise: Juggling Act

Picture a woman juggling small balls in the air, each labeled with the single words:

Self, Family, Career, and Spouse.

 Each of the balls is the same size, made from durable materials that will bounce but not break if dropped or neglected. The ball labeled Family, however, is constructed from delicate crystal, a precious material that will shatter if not handled with care. 

 How do you think the woman will handle the FAMILY ball? Will she let it drop, only to shatter into a million pieces, never to be repaired? Or will she make sure she does everything humanly possible to keep that ball aloft, safe from harm?

 My point in using this illustration is that a parent can juggle all the aspects of her life –career, self-improvement, and homemaking - but must continue to care for and protect the most valuable aspect of all:  her family.

 Make sure you are juggling the right priorities in your life, and continuing to care for the most prized of all: those that you love.  Hold them dear and keep them aloft, even at the cost of other areas of your life—they’re one of a kind and cannot be replaced.

 HOMEwork –The Capable Wife

Read Proverbs 31:10-31, keeping in mind that the ideal woman described by King Lemuel (otherwise known as King Solomon) is a composite rather than a real person.  Rather than being defeated by an ideal you can’t possibly live up to, try instead to be inspired to be your very best. Use this as your motivation to be all you can be, for your husband, your children, yourself, and your God.

 An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels,
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain. 
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She looks for wool and flax,
And works with her hands in delight.
She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.
She rises also while it is still night,
And gives food to her household,
And portions to her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And makes her arms strong.
She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor;
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
 She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her saying:
“Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and
Beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears
The Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.

What a powerful passage this is! Each time I read these verses, I can see many practical applications for the woman of today:

 She has the trust of her husband (he relies on her sound judgment and wisdom in managing their household and guiding their children at home and in the community).

 She supports her husband rather than badmouthing him to friends, neighbors, and her mother.  This is the total opposite of what we often read on discussion boards, in women’s magazines, or even hear discussed at our monthly BUNCO games. 

  She clothes her family in quality garments, which doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a professional seamstress to make your husband and your kids look well groomed. Hunting for bargains in the mall, shopping at resale shops, and finding treasure at rummage sales are all productive ways to find quality clothing at frugal prices.

 She produces a variety of foods at her table, whether gourmet or down-home cooking. Healthy choices with fresh flavors are key to keeping her family eating well.  She may not grow the fruits and vegetables, but she sure can pick out seasonal favorites to keep even the pickiest of eaters well fed.

 She rises early to give her family a good day’s start, rather than sleeping in and letting them fend for themselves. Getting up at the crack of dawn may not be in order for all of us, but setting your alarm to wake 15 minutes earlier than your husband and kids may give you just the time you need to jumpstart breakfast and school/work preparations.

 She works productively in her home, whether as a homemaker or work-from-home mom.  This is a woman who is a good steward of her time as well as her resources, making the most of what she has.

 She serves the poor and the needy. Having a servant’s heart doesn’t just reflect how you make your offering each Sunday morning.  This also includes donating goods and your time to the homeless shelter, vacuuming for the new mother down the street, or ministering to the friend whose husband just lost his job.

 She is prepared for the winter months as well as the uncertain future.  The pantry and freezer are well stocked, a disaster kit is organized and kept up to date with emergency items, and you’re ready for the next season’s change of clothing for your children and husband’s needs.  You live like a retail buyer, shopping a season ahead for seasonal clothes, linens, and foods that are fresh.

 She is wise and teaches others the lessons she has learned, sharing her talents with those in her family as well as other women. But as wives and mothers we shouldn’t just teach homemaking skills to others; we should be sharing all the positive lessons that we have learned in our daily walk with the Lord: how to have a servant’s heart, how to start our day with the Lord, and how to be good stewards of our time and money. 

 She is energetic, not just doing busywork (see Martha in Luke 11:38-42:

 “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet.

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’

But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, yo u are worried and bothered about so many things;

But only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’

 She is godly. Rather than worrying about what we look like on the outside or who we’re seen with (vanity), we should fear the Lord, and let our works speak for themselves.  This is being a beautiful woman of God.

 HOMEwork –

Turn Down the Volume

Turn down the radio or television volume in your home a click or two, and watch how quickly it affects the noise level and activities in your household.

If you don’t see an immediate change, try this exercise a total of 3 times this week, and make a note of the changes it creates among your family members.  You’ll be amazed how easy it is to control the tone in your household.

Music Soothes the Savage Beast

When frustration levels reach a peak -- either for you, your spouse, or your children --try playing soft instrumental music in the background.  Watch the results as children and teens begin to play quiet games, read, or take a nap, thereby lowering your stress level.

This is an excellent way to transition from busy activities (indoor wrestling, returning from play in the park) to quiet ones. It also works wonders during those times when     your little one has outgrown naps but yo u both still have a need for some quiet time.  

The 4-Step Process to Becoming an AWESOME Organizer

Getting organized is as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4!   In my experience with coaching clients of all ages and backgrounds, from full time mothers to teenagers, this simple 4-step process works wonders in creating a manageable organizing system.  

• Always begin with a plan.
• Sort through your clutter.
• Organize your stuff.
• Maintain your system on a daily basis

Step 1: Begin With a Plan

Lights, Camera, Action! –  Before you plunge in over your head with your organizing project, you need to create an action plan.  Whether you use an action plan form such as those in this study course, a notebook, or a journal, it’s important to start with a place to make notes and track your progress. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just make it user friendly and keep it on stand-by to refer to time and again.

Proverbs 16:3 says:

Commit your works to the Lord,
And your plans will be established.

(New American Standard)

Now that’s quite a promise, isn’t it?  Your organizational efforts will pay off big time because you have the strongest ally in the universe on your side. Remember to claim God’s promise in Proverbs 16:3 each time you are feeling that you have the most disorganized house on your block.   

Daydreaming Exercise:  Seeing the True Scope of Things –   

Use a toy telescope or empty paper towel tube to get a realistic view of your clutter. This is one time it’s okay not to look at the big picture.  Zoom in on one area of your most cluttered space, and begin your organizational journey there.

Whether it’s your kitchen countertop, the playroom, or your teenager’s closet, focus on one little corner and then picture how you would like for it to look.

HOMEwork – Turning Nightmares into Dreams

List your biggest organizational nightmare below, focusing only on one area for now.

Organizational nightmare: _______________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Grab your action plan and write down the biggest organizational day dream you have for your newly organized space:

 #1 Day Dream: ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Are you ready to sort through the clutter now? Hang on—we’re almost ready!  But the planning step in your organizing homework is the most important step of all—remember all those swing sets and bicycles you tried to assemble before reading the instructions? Things didn’t quite come together the way you wanted them to, did they? Bear with me as we create one last part of your action plan—then you’ll be able to grab those totes and containers and fill them up again. And I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

It’s time for action!  Create an action plan for success sheet by listing all the rooms in your home on a large sheet of paper.  Choose the one you would like to begin with and put the number “1” beside it.  Find the second biggest organizing challenge and place a “2” beside it. Continue this prioritizing process until you have assigned a number to each room that you have selected.

Set a realistic due date to organize yo ur room and mark that date on yo ur planning sheet.  Don’t just guess -- grab a calendar and make a concerted effort to really reach yo ur deadline.  Mark each room as it is completed and include that date in yo ur notes. This will serve as a realistic guideline for future projects, and will also remind that yo u can do this  - and indeed yo u have)!

Step 2: Sort Through the Clutter

Now that you’ve created a plan for action, it’s time to start sorting.  Tackle one area at a time—and don’t worry, the rest of the clutter will still be there when you’re ready to conquer it!

HOMEwork 

Create sorting labels by writing these words on 8.5 x 11 inch paper:  TRASH, KEEP, SELL, UNDECIDED.  Set up sturdy and easy-to-use sorting boxes for your organizing project. You might want to use cardboard boxes found at your local grocer’s, or invest in banker’s boxes (found at office supply stores) that can be reused time and again. (It’s not the packaging that matters here, but the process.)  Stick the labels onto your boxes.  Use rubber cement or tape so that you can easily remove the labels to reuse them for another time.  

Begin by sorting the items in your cluttered little corner of the world.  Tackle items one piece at a time, working around the room in a methodical fashion.  You can go in a clockwise, counterclockwise or zigzag pattern—whatever feels most natural to you.  Sort first, and then worry about the storage.  Be sure to have plenty of those large empty boxes labeled: TRASH, KEEP, SELL and UNDECIDED.  Remember not to get too attached to anything you touch during this step. Later, during your break, you can take the time to travel down memory lane while flipping through Junior’s baby book, but right now it’s time for action!

This is one of my personal favorites of the four organizing steps, because it’s a no-brainer.  Anyone can sort socks, shoes, shirts, papers, catalogs and so forth, putting like things together and tossing them into the appropriate boxes.

 Get the kids to help you or invite a friend to join in.  Listen to upbeat music to keep you moving and on track.  Don’t leave your sorting area to put things away, because you’ll inevitably get sidetracked down the hall or in the laundry room, never returning to where you first began.  Resist the temptation to stray, and stay on course!

Before you can take the next step in organizing (ORGANIZE), you must do something with all those objects you’ve sorted.  Let’s start with the easiest, and then work our way up to the more difficult (another effective time management tip). 

• Take the “trash” box outside to your garbage can, dumpster or curb for pickup.  Remove it from the room so that you don’t have to deal with it taking up valuable space.  That was easy, wasn’t it?

• Now it’s time to move on to the “sell” box.  Carry it to your car or van to drop off tomorrow at your local resell shop.  (Or delegate this job to a spouse or teenager who keeps getting underfoot.)

• Let’s take another look at that “undecided” box.  When you’ve gotten this far in the process, it’s much easier to be brutal, tossing things you would normally treasure.  If anything is left in the box, move it to the hallway for now.  You can tackle it after your upcoming break. (See? This won’t be so stressful. We’re only on Step 2 and you’re already getting a break!

• That leaves you with the “keep” box, which is the only box of stuff you will actually be organizing today. Is it bigger than a breadbox but smaller than your car? Good! It’s finally time to put to use all those shoeboxes, check register boxes, egg cartons, and wicker baskets you’ve hoarded throughout the years.    

Step 3: Organize Your Stuff

 It’s time to get organized!  Use items from your kitchen and office to contain the clutter you’ve sorted, keeping in mind that the most-used items should be easily accessible.

If you’ve done your homework properly, moving from Step 1 to Step 2, and didn’t skip ahead to this step (Step 3), your organizing job isn’t nearly as difficult as you thought it would be.  This is where you assign a home for your treasured items to live, and to return to after they’ve been used.

 Create zones or centers, much like in your child’s classroom, to keep track of your household items.  Common sense will play a big role here.  Store tools in the basement or garage, arts & crafts supplies in the hobby room or kitchen, and extra paper towels in the kitchen pantry rather than under your bed. 

 Close your eyes, and picture yourself or yo ur family using these household items. Walk through a typical day, thinking how and where you would use these items.  Let’s use Play-doh as an example for how to decide where items should live.

 Most parents store Play-Doh in the toy chest or the closet shelf in their child’s room, but it’s a messy toy and perhaps should be used with adult supervision.  As the manager of this home,  where would you like to see your kids use Play-Doh?  At the kitchen table, where clay crumbs can easily be swept away with a broom and kept off the carpet? Or perhaps outside on the deck or patio?

 By thinking clearly about where items are actually used, rather than stuffing them into leftover storage space, you are assigning a home and establishing a good future habit.  Now each time you and Johnny work with clay, both of you will know where to return the Play-Doh: to its rightful home on the upper shelf of whichever closet is closest to where the Play-Doh® will be used.

 SIDE NOTE:  Oddly enough, we think about childproofing cleaners and medicines, but not items such as pens, clay, paints, glues, and stickers.  Of course it only takes one unplanned room-painting party to remind yo u that permanent markers are indeed permanent, and should be stored up high and remain off limits, used only with adult supervision.

 Use this same visualization exercise with the remaining items in your “keep” stack when they present a storage dilemma.  It’s okay to think outside the box, and to store arts & crafts in the kitchen or laundry area not in the bedroom with other toys.  Often storing medicines in the kitchen cabinet under lock and key makes much more sense for the parents of yo ung children than stashing them in the traditional medicine cabinet.

Step 4:  Maintain Your System On a Regular Basis

   Keep up the hard work by maintaining your organizational system.  This is perhaps the most challenging and overlooked step in organizing.  It’s fairly easy to get organized, but how on earth do you stay that way?  Remember all those creative ideas you came up with in the organizing step of your project: file boxes, binders, and storage boxes?  Those created a home for your papers and knick-knacks, and that’s where you should continue to place incoming items on a regular basis.  Don’t let this organizing step overwhelm you - it’s simply a matter of cleaning as you go, and making an effort to put things back where they belong.

 Some efficiency experts feel that there is “a place for everything, and everything in its place.”  But that would be in a perfect world. My home certainly isn’t perfect, and I’ll bet yours isn’t either!  Instead of giving up before we even get started, let’s walk through a typical day and its wonderful possibilities.

 HOMEwork:  Are you a Busybody?

 2 Thessalonians 3: 11 says:

 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all but acting like busybodies.  Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.”

 Evaluate your own lifestyle. Are you a busybody like Martha, creating clutter as fast as you can clean it? Or are you an efficient home manager, creating an atmosphere of calm and peace for your family?

 Use common sense organizing techniques to keep your home safe and stress-free. Don’t be afraid to reorganize or move items around as the needs of your family change.  Obviously, as Junior grows older, he can be trusted to refrain from marking on the walls or using the blue toilet bowl cleaner as finger paint. 

 Thinking in the zone helps with the long-term plan of getting your household in order, making room for baking, crafting, bill-paying and playing.  Since these are action words, we may as well call yo ur task centers ACTION ZONES.

 The bill-paying action zone will probably be in your kitchen rather than upstairs or at the back of the house in the office.  “Use it or lose it” applies to organizing as well as brain cells. So set up your newly organized house using common sense, as well as the new skills you have learned.  Believe me, you’ll thank yourself at the end of a long day.

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