Learning Things I Thought I Knew: Home Organization is Not a Luxury
- Nay C
- Apr 17, 2022
- 4 min read
Having a well maintained and organized home is not a luxury. It is a tool.
It can provide a safe space for children to learn and grow.
It can offer structure which yields peace of mind.
It can generate more time for the important things in life.
It can encourage good health.
It can induce gratitude for the things and people you’ve been blessed with.
It can help you to save money, by minimizing over spending and wastefulness.
It can create a space to share with others.
It can break the heaviness of depression
It allows you to serve in your community, without feeling like you’re neglecting your home/family
I am very passionate about home organization and family systems. I also enjoy decluttering, organizing and planning. So much so, that at times I mistakenly view it as a hobby. And no one wants to be that person who imposes their hobbies and passions on others.
But as I grow and commit myself to living a God centered life, I‘m realizing that I’ve needed women to come alongside me to help me to grow in grace, as a wife and mom. Likewise, there are people who need help with their home, managing their time, budgeting money, setting goals, creating habits, etc.
When I work with people on organization, I always use the example of a hotel. If you check into a hotel on vacation, more than likely you have a standard of quality that you are willing to pay for.
Would you stay in a hotel that
Has trash on the floor of the room
Dirty dishes stacked on the counter at the continental breakfast
The smell of trash that needs to go out
Make-up, toothpaste and hair all over the bathroom sink
Dirty linen piled up on the floor by the window
Most of us would not pay for that, nor would we feel comfortable enough to relax in that. But sometimes, in our homes, because we are the ones responsible for laundry, trash, vacuuming, dishes, and putting things away we make a trade off. We suddenly become comfortable lowering our standard of cleanliness for our environment.
We also have major blind spots in our homes. Sometimes it’s not until someone is visiting that we notice the dust on the coffee table or the smell in the fridge. We acclimate to things that we would give 1 star reviews for in an Airbnb.
What if you did not have to leave your home to experience comfort and quality?
Does your home have to be clean and organized to raise happy children? No. But let’s think bigger than happy.
When children have an excessive amount of things (clothes, toys, etc.) a few things tend to happen. First of all they always want more or something else, or something new. This is a prerequisite for an adult who is discontent, greedy and/or ungrateful. Another thing that happens is that they struggle to maintain all the stuff. So things end up lost, broken, or abandoned. This is a prerequisite for an adult that is overwhelmed, overstimulated, ungrateful, wasteful and likely has an over spending habit.
We can help our children by limiting the amount of things they have and teaching them how to maintain it. And I am not suggesting that you set a number for how many toy cars or shirts or books they have. But a simple system like one thing in-one thing out or making sure that all their toys have a home and periodically purging things before adding new things can help them to learn to manage their stuff. Children who can manage their stuff have a good chance of growing into adults who can manage their finances, relationships, emotions, etc. They’ve learned the lessons of delayed gratification, self control and making good choices.
Focusing so much on stuff and “the home” can feel materialistic, but it doesn’t have to be. It can actually be the exact opposite. It can free up mental clutter, physical burnout and emotional turbulence and allow you to focus on the relationships in your home.
A well maintained home does not happen without effort and being intentional. It’s an opportunity for the family to work together, think of the next person, and establish an atmosphere of support, communication and respect.
When responsibilities of the home are divided and conquered the family becomes united. Use dinner for example. It can look like many things:
One person cooks dinner, may or may not get to the clean up afterwards. Everyone eats and goes their separate ways.
One person cooks, another person washes dishes. Someone clears the table, someone else takes out the trash.
Basically, team work. Siblings that learn to work together will have an easier time sharing or being considerate of each other. The same goes for parents. When couples feel like they are sharing the load there is more appreciation and consideration between them.
More than just the end result- although that alone is a great reward- it’s the practice of maintaining a home, the effort put in by everyone, the laying down of self, the delayed gratification, the attention to details and the attempt to improve that, over time, allows us to yield good fruit.
The redundancy of it compounds as we labor in faith, and one day we look up and our children are self sufficient and responsible. Our spouses see our efforts as virtue. We experience the joy of being diligent and laboring with integrity.
Home management is not a luxury. It’s not a hobby. It is a ministry to those that we love. It‘s a labor of love.
With all that said…
If you come to my house on a Tuesday morning, you’ll see some of Monday‘s laundry air drying in the kitchen. When everyone in my home was sick recently we had water bottles with varying levels of water in them randomly displayed on all the flat surfaces of the living room, kitchen and my bedroom. When my son is in deep play and spends hours setting up traps in his room or building things out of Amazon boxes, we live around it for a couple of days before having him clean it up.
Life happens and sometimes it’s messy and rarely is it ever orderly. Having routines and/or systems in place can allow your family to reset and get back to living fruitful lives.
Are you ready to take action in your home? What is your main motivation to get started? What do you see as your biggest obstacle to overcome?
I’d love to help, encourage, and celebrate victories with you! You can email me at nay@yourfruitfullife.com or schedule a FREE consultation here.
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