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Good Housekeeping
9 singles share how they stay motivated to take care of their home
January 30, 2008
The Party Palace
I view my house as a gift from the Lord for ministering to others. Since I have enough room to entertain about 20 people, I regularly host events for our church singles group. Those parties become my motivation to keep my house orderly (at least in the common areas).
When I haven't had people over for a while, my place starts getting messy. I don't mean to be messy, but one day I just look up, and the place is a wreck.
An orderly house also contributes to a peaceful mind, another motivation to stay tidy. God is a God of order, and he built a desire for order into us, too.
-Larry
Enlisting Help
The one factor that helps motivate me to keep my condo clean is e-mails from flylady.net. Flylady and her team are positive and encouraging. They remind me cleaning is all about baby steps!
One weekend, after cleaning my condo by following flylady's advice, I wanted someone to see the results. So I took photos and e-mailed them to my women's Bible study leader. We both got a kick out of them.
-Laurie
Hotel Laura
I put my name in the Mennonite Your Way directory, a list of people around the world willing to host others for short stays. People don't have to be Mennonite to host or be hosted, but they're expected to be Christian. I live in Toronto, a popular tourist destination, so I get quite a few visitors from this directory. I love anticipating and meeting someone new every month or so. And these visitors help motivate me to keep my home clean.
-Laura
My Father's Eyes
I took a day off work before the holidays to clean and decorate for Christmas. As I admired my job well done, I realized it had also earned the attention and admiration of someone else—my Lord and Savior.
Every day since then, I've kept my home clean. I have such a sense of happiness, joy, and peace when I come home each night. That feeling is well worth the few minutes I spend each day tidying up before work or, if I'm running late, before bed. I like my home tidy and neat, and my Father God likes it that way, too. He appreciates each of my efforts, and his approval, admiration, and reward are worth more to me than a compliment from any person.
During my cleaning, I've also realized I could keep my closets and cupboards neat and clean all the time if I were to store only what I need and use. So, my goal this year is to clean out my spare room and clear my closets and cupboards of every single unneeded or unused item. This purge will doubtless bring needed simplicity and peace to my life.
-Kathleen
Free to Clean
I'm a "selfish" type: I keep my house clean and full of flowers as a gift to myself. My ex-wife didn't appreciate visual beauty or order in our home. So when I became single again, I cleaned up the house and bought fresh flowers every time I was in the grocery store to remind myself how nice my home can be.
A cleaning woman comes in every week, but she doesn't have much to do except vacuum the dog hair and run the laundry. If I use a coffee cup, I take that one minute to clean and put it away; I do the same for a glass in the bedroom, a plate on the patio, or a newspaper I read in the morning. And the house always looks great.
Selfish, orderly, compulsive, or a combination of the three— that's how I choose to live, and, thankfully, that's how I now can!
-Tom
Living to the Full
Many times I've felt embarrassed when a friend's walked into my house and seen my mess. I've struggled just to survive throughout the week between work, church, and school, and then tried to create some semblance of order during the weekend between errands, friends, and church. Often, I've given up, cleaning only when necessary, or when I have the rare urge to clean.
At the beginning of this year, however, I decided to live to the fullest in all areas of my life. With this goal in mind, I've been living for what I have now—and right now I have this lovely, quaint, little house that I can fix up and enjoy for me! I've started doing so, and I find satisfaction in a wonderfully clean house. Motivating myself to clean when I'm the only one around is difficult, but I'm finding I'm worth the work!
-Jocelyne
Cleaning for Jesus
Whenever I dated someone, I put my house in order so I could invite him into my home without being embarrassed. When I wasn't dating someone, I let the mess get deep. But then I remembered I'm never alone. God's always right there with me. However weird this idea may sound, I started cleaning for Jesus. I actually act as if he's there while I'm cleaning, or as if he's going to show up at a certain time. I should do all things for his glory anyway, so I decided to adopt this frame of mind even when cleaning what he's entrusted to me. Weird? Maybe, but the concept works. Plus, I get to spend time with the King in the process.
-Briana
Starting Good Habits
My motivation to keep my home tidy is three-fold. First, when I have an unclean home, I dislike the cluttered atmosphere. I seem to concentrate and think better after I've cleaned my home. Second, when I see a dirty dish in the sink or a blouse strewn across the bedroom chair, I ask myself if I'd behave the same way if I had a spouse. Third, I tell myself I won't be in an apartment forever and I'll have to do much more work to keep a house clean. So I'm getting into the habit of not going more than a few days without taking inventory of what I need to put away, pick up, or wash. I'm not always 100 percent successful in keeping up with everything, especially filing papers, but I have some semblance of order in my home 90 percent of the time.
Still, despite all those other reasons, my main motivation to clean is my preparation for the spouse I believe God has for me.
-Name withheld
A Foreign Concept
Once a month, I invite a group of women to my home for a social evening. We call ourselves the UFOs (Unattached Females Only). The widows in my church really appreciate having an event just for older singles.
Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes show photos of recent vacations and family gatherings, and sometimes just visit. We've also folded pamphlets for an upcoming church event, and rolled balls of yarn for the church craft room.
I want my home to look warm and welcoming for these women—so I "get 'er done" for them.
-Annette
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