What Moulds Us

"It is not the thing on which we spend the most time that moulds us, but the thing that exerts the greatest power. Five minutes with God and His Word is worth more than all the rest of the day."

- Oswald Chambers

Printable Daily Cleaning Schedule for Busy Moms

As a busy, homeschooling mom of three boys, I know first-hand how challenging it can be to keep your house clean. Life gets crazy on a regular basis around here! If I didn’t have an easy-to-use daily cleaning schedule, I’d be even more of a hot mess than I usually am.

So today, I’m sharing my printable Daily Cleaning Schedule with you, so you can get on a simple cleaning schedule too!

With this cleaning schedule, you’ll be able to stay on top of all those recurring tasks, like laundry and dishes AND find time for the deep cleaning tasks that you keep putting off.

No more slaving away all weekend just to get ready for the week ahead. No more wishing you could find a free Saturday to finally organize your pantry.

I’ve realized that as long as I have a good cleaning schedule that utilizes a looping routine, I don’t have to work as hard to keep my house clean AND I don’t feel stressed trying to find huge blocks of time to get everything done.

Here are a few of my personal tips to make this cleaning schedule work its tail off for you!

Zone Cleaning

My older boys are finally able to handle some cleaning on their own (can I get an amen??) and little brother (who’s 3) is getting the hang of it too.

For the older ones, I typically assign them one room (aka zone) of the house to clean up during our 10-minute tidy-up (more on that below).

By giving them a zone to clean up, we avoid the whole, “That’s not my shoe,” “I didn’t play with that,” “There’s so much stuff I’m frozen like a deer in headlights” scenario that used to play out in our playroom every time my kids heard the words “time to clean up.”

This way, they know they’re responsible for everything in their zone, no matter who it belongs to AND they can finish quickly without getting overwhelmed by the idea of cleaning the whole house.

This works well with younger kids too – I actually highly recommend it as a training method if you ever want your toddlers to start picking up their own toys. They just need more supervision and step-by-step instructions. But you’re already doing that all day long, right?

10-Minute Tidy-Up

When do I use this awesome zone cleaning method? During our daily 10-minute tidy-up. I was sick and tired of picking up every room in the house after my kids had all gone to bed, but couldn’t think of another way to get the house clean and KEEP it that way.

Until I figured out the 10-minute tidy-up.

The other day, I actually got my boys out of bed and told them in no uncertain terms that we would NEVER be going to bed with a messy house again.

But how to enforce this awesome mom rule? Enter the 10-minute tidy-up. Typically I set our good old-fashioned egg timer (because it has the added benefit of making that little ticking sound) for 10 minutes. You can also use your phone, the oven timer, anything really.

Then I give the boys their zones, do the whole “ready, set, go!” and before I know it, they’re rushing to get their space clean and tidy before time runs out.

They actually love the racing element of this method (most kids do), so it doesn’t feel so much like work to them. And I get my house cleaned up in just a few minutes a day.

My tip: I reward my kids with coveted iPad time if they can get the job done before the timer rings. Trust me, this works like gangbusters. Give it a try in your house for extra motivation.

Don’t be afraid to employ this cleaning schedule throughout the day if your kids are messy or have a habit of leaving things out when they move on to a new activity.

Morning and Evening Routines

There’s nothing like starting and ending your day with a calm, clean home. But how do you get it that way without feeling stressed all the time?

The key is to add routines to your daily cleaning schedule.

I’ve learned that routines make everything a thousand times easier. Instead of trying to think about all the things I need to do before bed, I simply rely on my evening routine to work through them quickly.

I’ve included my own morning and evening routines in this checklist, but feel free to modify it on the blank version to meet your own needs.

My tip: Listen to a favorite Spotify channel or podcast while you work through your routine. You may even find yourself craving that daily cleanup time.

Ready to get your home clean and make your life a whole lot easier?

Originally written and published by Melissa Fitzhugh. Used with permission.

Wise Children

Recently I read a popular book that’s been pretty controversial. As I read through it I found some good points and thoughts from the author, as well as many statements that didn’t align with Scripture. In fact, there were quite a few things the author claimed as truth that simply aren’t.

But the book is well-written, and some false statements are close enough to being correct that they sound good. It got me thinking about how my kids will process the information they read and hear.

How will they know what’s accurate and what’s not? How will they avoid lies and things that will lead them in the wrong direction?

Many times parents and other well-meaning adults try to control every aspect of a child’s life. We try to shelter our kids from bad things, from lies, from things that will lead them astray. Certainly there is wisdom in that to some degree, but there also can be danger in trying to control so much.

Though my kids are young and I don’t have the experience of others, I have seen a method that works and is Biblical. Instead of trying to oversee everything related to your children, give them the tools to do it themselves. To weigh pros and cons, to determine whether something is right or wrong, to ask questions and come to reasonable conclusions.

We can teach our children how to figure things out for themselves. It may sound tedious, and I’m sure at times it is -- but their foundation on the Word of God is essential. They need to know His Word just as we do.

In our own lives, we strive to learn and grow in Christ, do we not? How do we do that apart from knowing Him through Scripture? (Answer: we don’t.)

So just as we learn how to navigate life and obstacles through God’s Word, we ought to do the same with our kids. Teach them Scripture, and teach them what the verses mean. Have them memorize it and hide it in their hearts, so that they can refer to it and understand the depth of its meaning over time. I am a testimony to this; I memorized Scripture in kindergarten that has stuck with me since, and over the years I have learned more about what those passages mean. Just because they don’t understand it at age 4 doesn’t mean it’s not worth memorizing.

When your kids have questions about things from their day, things they read or hear or see, enter into their world. Talk about it. Work it through with them. Help them get from A to B mentally, but don’t do it all for them. If you can be the assistant while they learn the decision-making and how to implement wisdom, they will be equipped to do it on their own later.

I don’t know about you, but having children who are capable of keeping a solid head on their shoulders and the Lord as the leader of their steps sounds like an incredible gift. Ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance to teach your kids, and be diligent to do the work. The outcome isn’t guaranteed, but ladies, as Christians we have the responsibility of raising our children in the way of the Lord. It’s never too early to be serious about doing so!

Written by Amy Parsons.

Hope is not Named Boaz

Some things feel too vulnerable to share.

And while I’d prefer to keep the deepest layers of my heart tucked safely in, sometimes we just need the relief of realizing that someone else walking a similar path has experienced the same emotions and reactions we’re experiencing.

So while it feels a bit risky, it’s worth it if it lifts another sister up, redirects our heart and helps us live where we are and love where we are.

Because I was caught off guard at how soon after Dan’s death I became obsessed with remarrying.

I don’t use that word lightly. It preoccupied my waking moments and became the longing of my broken heart.

When I read grief books by other widows, I’d flip to the last chapter to see if she had remarried. How long had she waited? How had they met? Was she happy?

God, please don’t make me wait ten years, I’d pray.

I had loved Dan deeply. And I had loved being married.

But oh, the conflict.

I’d steal glances at ring fingers and become simultaneously horrified at the possibility of even making eye contact.

I was madly in love with Dan and desperately wanting to remarry.

Even in the rawest ache of grief, my mind churned with when, where, how and who God might bring into my life. For more than 20 years, my heart had been given to one man. And I missed it.

Wait for your Boaz.

It’s the heart cry for the single Christian girl waiting on a godly man.

When you’re suddenly thrust into the club of young widows, the possibility of a Boaz holds out bright hope.

I’m sure it’s the same for my other single sisters.

When friend after friend gets engaged, part of you celebrates wildly while the other part wonders when your Boaz is gonna show up.

When you’ve gone through the nightmare of rejection and betrayal, you dream of a Boaz who will love, honor and cherish you.

Wait for your Boaz.

The story of Ruth spells hope for every single girl, every widow, every woman who’s heart has been crushed.

It feels like God tucked the best love story ever into the Bible just so we’d know it can happen.

And happen better than any Nicholas Sparks novel.

Ruth was a young woman in Moab who married into a Hebrew family. Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons left their hometown of Bethlehem and migrated to next door Moab when famine hit. Their sons married Moabite women – one named Orpah and the other Ruth.

That’s when the bottom dropped out. First patriarch Elimelech died and then – unbelievably – both sons. Naomi was left without husband, without sons, and both Orpah and Ruth became young widows. In ancient times, this was beyond heartbreak. This was desolation.

In deep grief, Naomi was hopeless. She could offer nothing to her daughters-in-law. She’d go empty and bitter back to Bethlehem. Orpah returned to her Moabite family and Ruth alone vowed to go with Naomi.

But not because of Boaz. It was never Boaz that made Ruth move forward in faith. Ruth had never heard the name. She didn’t know Boaz existed. She wasn’t going to Bethlehem for Boaz or even for a Boaz.

Ruth’s longing was not for Boaz, but for God.

“Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Ruth 1:16

Ruth could move forward into her bleak and empty future because she placed her hope in God.

And this is where the violins cue to fortissimo. Ruth found provision as she gleaned in the fields, protection as she gleaned from Boaz’s fields and then full out prosperity as Boaz redeemed his right of kinship and took her as his wife. The book ends as Boaz and Ruth have a child, whose grandson would one day be King David.

All the satisfying sighs as they lived happily ever after.

Because isn’t that what we single girls want? We desperately long to live happily ever after with our own Boaz.

So often we look at the book of Ruth and think, Yes! God can do the impossible. He can bring a wonderful, godly, successful man to my life. Look — it happened to Ruth! And it can happen to me, too.

So we join the singles class at church and scour the e-dating site and begin to view every event as the ONE possibility that will introduce us to our Boaz.

I’m not knocking the singles classes at church or e-dating sites.

But we’ve read into Ruth a message that God doesn’t give.

Because the hero in the book of Ruth is not Boaz.

The hero in the book of Ruth is God.

Ruth sought God, not Boaz, with her whole heart. Ruth trusted God, not Boaz, with her whole heart. Ruth went to Bethlehem for God, not Boaz.

It was God who provided for Ruth.
It was God who protected Ruth.
And it was God who prospered Ruth.

I realized a long time ago that I had to deal with my own longing for Boaz. It was taking up valuable soul space, misdirecting my hope and healing.

God is my hero. God alone can give me hope, ease the raw ache of my broken heart and prosper me to live well where I am, and to love well where I am.

I had to long for God alone.

I’d like to say it was easy to lay it down. But it was an over and over again process of giving my heart, my hurt and every hope to God and trusting him. Over time, my preoccupation to remarry began to fall away. I still have dreams tucked in close, but they don’t redirect my heart.

God is my Boaz. And he’s yours, too.

Originally written by Lisa Appelo of True & Faithful. Used with permission.