The House is Clean

Year 8-Day 95:Today, I am grateful the house is clean. 

I love a clean house. It needed a good cleaning. Now, the house "smells like mopped", as Walker used to say when he would walk in the door after I had cleaned. It is a sweet memory of the season when our sons were just boys. 

So often, our biggest cleaning happens before we entertain or have guests in "the inn". Today, with the stay-in-place order, it is truly for us. 

This meme made me laugh. "Instead of cleaning, I just watched an episode of hoarders. I didn't realize how fantastic my house really looks." I think Randy turns that show on occasionally to get me motivated to pitch stuff. The thing about cleaning and purging stuff, both acts make us feel better. Refreshed in a unique way. A clean empty space is a lovely sight to behold. 

I am reminded of the time Jesus walked into the temple, His Father's House, and saw people acting less than honorable. He flipped the tables and spoke his mind:

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”-Matthew 21:12-13 

In the next verse, Jesus was healing the blind and lame that came to him in the temple. His moment of anger was over the disrespect for God's house. They were making money, stealing money and focusing on profit, not the fact they were in a holy place. He cleaned house... and then went back to serving, healing and teaching.

I appreciate the reminder that there are times we need to "clean house". Literally, and in our heads and in our hearts. We don't always get it right. We clean house and it gets dirty again with our daily living. Our hearts, too. They both need regular cleaning. 

The week leading up to Easter, it is good to ponder what needs cleaning... spiritually and in our homes. 

Today, I am grateful the house is clean... and the heart is a work in progress.