I’m not sure what the obsession with Spring cleaning is. Spring is when we are busting at the seams to get outside and start exploring after feeling cooped up all winter. Spring is when we are preparing for summer adventures and finishing all the year-end schooling STUFF and juggling all the sport schedules. Spring is when the sun starts to stick around longer, begging us to join all of creation. Spring is when flowers promise to bloom, the air feels warm around your legs, and trees awake from their temporary slumber.
No, spring cleaning just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
We just moved. It was, I thought, horrible timing. We had just started the school semester when the contract was signed, and sports revved up right as moving weekend approached. It’s the busy season. There are commitments every night of the week as well as lessons and clubs and CC during the day. Throw in a few study groups and laundry and socials and FEEDING MY PEOPLE and I have very little steam left.
But, oh the reward of purging. I sorted EVERY. SINGLE. THING. we own. I went through every homeschool drawer and trashed pens that don’t work and sold math manipulatives we no longer use. I got rid of all our crayons. I thought about every one of my kitchen tools and dishes and whether or not I actually use them. I sorted blankets and toys and – even my books. I parted with a multitude of dishes and gadgets and exactly 3 books.
Fall cleaning, you guys. Fall cleaning is where it’s at. Fall is when we’re drawing in and circling up. It’s when we are hosting our get togethers and holiday meals. It’s when we’re cooking and baking and simmering at rates like no other time of the year. It’s when friends come over and come in for coffee by the fire. Fall is when we are nestled in on those long nights, eating soup dinners and watching family movies. It’s when we are staying in.
But mostly it’s when we are preparing. It’s when we’re anticipating. It’s when we’re looking ahead.
Christmas is coming.
I’ve been preparing. Somewhere between kitchen utensils and The Blanket Pile, I realized all the clearing away of the external had me reflecting on what needed purged from the inside. Old Anxiety had begun to rear its chatty head, the ugly beast. My cluttered heart needed cleared away and thoughts taken captive to the obedience of Christ.
God is so faithful and His timing so perfect.
Who knew that moving at the worst possible time could be the best possible thing?
Order and peace are restored, and my heart yearns for the Season ahead. I’m ready to light up my home and open wide my doors. I’m ready to host in my heart and my home.
Come, oh come, Emmanuel.
(And if you could bring my potato peeler and rolling pin, that’d be awesome. Those things didn’t make the move. K, thanks. Amen.)
coatsquotes 