Assignment:
How do you keep energized so you can get it all done? bouncy music? treat it like a workout? Do you use a schedule? a housekeeping binder system? luck of the draw system?.. or is this an area where you need encouragement? Do you need God’s help to keep order and beauty in your dwelling place? Take this week to tell us how You diligently keep going with your housekeeping chores.

My answer to this assignment is all of the above, depending on the day. It’s funny that this is the assignment for the week because of our ‘Catch-up, Clean-up’ day yesterday. We were able to get most of the house done except for the classroom and the office, which always seem to be the disaster zones around here.
We use a binder that stores all our schedules and routines. The kids each have their own and seem to do really well when they stick to it. (If you look on my sidebar under ‘Free Downloads’ you can check out some of our planner pages and schedules).  The house stays in order most of the time when they follow their schedules. It’s those weeks when we have a lot of outside activities that the clutter seems to build up. Whenever we have an all out cleaning day we usually play loud music to keep us moving. I play either oldies (60’s, 70’s and some 80’s) or Christian rock CDs to help keep the momentum going.  Although our house is not a spotless showcase, it is comfortably clean to us.  We live here. I often refer to the old saying, “If you’ve come to see us, come anytime, but if you’ve come to see my house, make an appointment.”
We always rely on God and His word to keep us motivated. The kids have studied and learned the Scriptures I used in my ‘Biblical Character Traits to Learn and to Live’ copybook and it helps them to see what He says about responsibility, cooperation, respect and all the other principles that help keep the house running smoothly. Without His principles guiding us throughout ever aspect of our lives, we would always be in failure and life would be one big mess.
I think that this passage sums up our direction

Proverbs 24:3-4
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.