The Key to Peace in my Home

We are in the middle of a pretty intense ice storm today, so I was blessed with a day off from work. And for once I'm having all kinds of blogging inspiration!

About a month ago, I wrote about my word of the year:
Here is the post where I wrote about why I'm pursuing peace in 2011, and how I plan to do that.

Today I write with an update on some things the Lord is doing in my life, and how they have brought peace.

Let me begin by admitting that the major struggles for me in my home are organization, motivation, procrastination (technically I guess I don't struggle with that one...I'm actually very good at it!) and even responsibility. Getting married was a rude awakening for me because I realized just how scattered and crazy my life really is. And how lazy I could be. My house at times was not only cluttered, but also dirty, and I would be embarrassed every time an unexpected guest would show up.

I hated living this way for basically the first year of our marriage, and the second year and first part of the third were a constant battle to keep my house clean. The best way I can describe it is that my cleaning habits had bi-polar tendencies. I would clean like a mad person for a few days, and do absolutely nothing for a few days. I felt dread and guilt about my home most of the time. I was trying with all my might to make it a clean, peaceful home, but I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

The scary thing about it is we don't even have kids yet!

Needless to say, my house has not been as peaceful as it could have been in the past 2.5 years since we've been married. And as a wife, I think one of my most important responsibilities and privileges is to make a my house a peaceful haven for our little family.

Thankfully, things have changed. I am writing today to say that I have finally found the key to peace in my home...

Did you notice I mentioned a few paragraphs up that I was trying with all my might to make it a clean, peaceful home? That's the problem. I guess I always knew that I needed to let God control the big things. But I was forgetting about the little things. I was trying to bring peace to my home all by myself, when in reality, God is the only one who can do that.

The thing that made the recent change in my heart and my home is the change in my quiet time. Or more specifically, beginning my prayer journal. Writing in a prayer journal each morning has changed my life. You can read more about how in the link above. But recently I began earnestly asking the Lord for motivation and energy each day in my prayer journal. Sounds simple, right? That daily request has absolutely changed my life.

Lately I've been able to write a daily schedule and to-do list. I've done this many times before, but it always fizzled out. This time, though, it's been going strong for awhile! I've been able to transform my house in the past few weeks. I've kept it clean and organized, and daily I'm accomplishing more and more tasks that had been pushed to the wayside for months. The only difference now is that I'm praying for my motivation and my home now, instead of trying to handle it all myself.

I feel so at peace in my home, today. I'm no longer embarrassed when people stop by for unexpected visits. And I hope Luke feels a little more comfortable and peaceful, too!

In addition to having a peaceful home, I've been blessed in so many other ways, too. First of all, I feel like I've somehow added more hours to the day! I've been able to get my daily tasks finish, accomplished things I've been putting off for months, and STILL have extra time each day to read or spend time with Luke. Just look at the reading list in my sidebar for proof...I read a measly 12 books in 2010, and I've already finished 4 just in January of 2011 (and it will probably be 5 by the end of today :-)). I've been getting to bed earlier and feeling more rested all day. And we have been blessed with the possibility of using our home for some fellowship in the near future (I will write more about this later if and when it comes to fruition).

Not only that, but I've been able to use Sunday as a day of rest and worship. I've found that Sunday as a day of rest works as a cycle: I get a lot done during the week, so I have time to rest on Sunday. And since I rest on Sunday, I have so much more energy and motivation throughout the week. I'll probably be writing an entire post about this sometime soon.

I am thankful that our lives have been changed. I've learned that no situation is too small for God!

Before I sign off, I'd like to share a book that has helped me a lot in my quest to find peace in my home and every other area of my life. I've mentioned it before, but I think it deserves to be mentioned again:
Joyce Meyer writes a lot about peace and how to pursue it in our daily lives. The book contains short but powerful daily devotions.

Now I'm off to enjoy my ice day :-)