Keeper of the Home

She is energetic, a hard worker, and watches for bargains.

She works far into the night.

--Proverbs 31: 17, 18

With my New Year's resolution of 'Keeping Ahead of the Game', I have been focusing on being a keeper of the home. I want my home to be an extension of my personality. I want all who enter to feel comfort and love and I hope you all don't mind if I share from time to time ways in which I try to achieve this. Keep ahead of the game basically is like the scout motto of "be prepared." I try to keep ahead of the game when it comes to things such as meal planning, or holidays or other special events. It drives me nuts to be rushing around at the last minute trying to complete a project or find a lost item such as car keys. I really want to do weekly meal planning and try to limit my trips to the store to only once a week. No more do I want to start cooking a recipe to find I need to rush out and buy a key ingredient before supper can be completed.

Every month I try to really deep clean one area of my home. During this January I've been focusing on my kitchen. I've completely emptied my pantry and scrubbed it clean. I've also cleaned above my kitchen cabinets when I took the Christmas decorations down. Now I am working on deep cleaning inside all my cabinets and drawers. It sure is good with each shelf I clean to see it looking fresh. It hasn't been so overwhelming to deep clean the entire kitchen knowing that I have allotted myself an entire month. I've used baskets in my pantry and in the cabinet to store little loose items. It looks pretty and the clutter is gone.

I'd like to challenge you to one room of deep cleaning and decluttering during the month of January. Feel free to post your accomplishments in my comments. If you have a blog, I'd love to know about it and stop by.

By the way, the the blessings journal covering in the photo above is one I made with scrapbooking paper scraps. It is a calendar and I try to write at least one blessing in it each day. It helps remind me of all the wonderful gifts our God has given me and to remember and always put Him first.

Baskets of Blessings,

Love,

Nancy