Homemaking Monday - My Annual Pre-Holiday Seasonal Deep Clean

Well, my friends, it's hard to believe but it is that time of year again, and by "that time", I'm referring to the shift in focus that seems to come naturally for me every year around August 1.  The garden holds my attention from March through July, but come August, I still start feeling the pull to begin preparations for the 'Ber Months, as I affectionately call them, and all the joy, hustle and bustle they can bring!

I've been quietly setting aside a few gifts as I find them here and there, well, since right after Christmas last year! But aside from that, all my foward thinking and prep doesn't really begin to take hold until what are often the hottest days of summer, although this year has been blessedly mild! Still, in most cases it is precisely the temperature outdoors that sets me to focusing once again on the indoors, and with the garden holding so much of my attention for several months, it is usually desperately in need of cleaning. 

Last year I got a late start on my autumn decorating, and it felt as though I had just put it all out and it was time to take it down and decorate for Christmas.  For the first time in over a decade I didn't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, which I know is typical for many, but it simply does not work for me!  2025 was a different year, our daughter was in a near fatal car accident in April, and by the grace of God walked down the aisle and was married in August, so there were a number of reasons I got behind.  But it made for a very stressful holiday season and I vowed that this year I was returning to my roots and getting back on schedule.

All this to say, over the coming month I'll be knees and elbows deep into my annual pre-holiday deep cleaning, and it begins this week.  It's going to be a bit of slow start, as we have a number of appointments already on the schedule this week, but hopefully I'll be able to knock a few things off the the list, and speaking of, here it is, if you're interested in this sort of thing, and if not, well, this may be at the forefront of my posts for several weeks, so maybe come back and visit me in September! :)

Rather than assign tasks to certain days, I decided to break it up into two phases with target goals for each phase to be completed.  Knowing that we have a number of appointments and commitments this month already, this works better for me.  There's nothing I hate more than having a to-do list for say, Monday, and then not checking off all the boxes, I'm a bit obsessive about those little boxes! This way I have a list of tasks that I want to finish in each phase, and the goal is to have all the boxes checked off by the deadline.

Phase I - Goal to be completed by August 13

Kitchen

- Project 1 - Cooking Area

- Project 2 - Food Storage

- Project 3 - Pantry and Cabinets

- Project 4 - Sink and Counters

- Project 5 - Finishing Touches

Dining Room

Family Room

Phase 1 complete! Decorate for Autumn on August 14-15

Phase II - Goal to be completed by September 4

Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Office Craft Room

Front Porch

Even using this method this feels ambitious, especially when you consider that I can't completely abandon the garden and outdoors.  My commitment is 2x a week outdoors, and 3x indoors during August, not including days when we have appointments, which will interrupt one of those days and I'll have to prioritize which is more important to make up. But, even if I don't finish everything by September 4, I'm ok with that because the biggest project, the kitchen, will be done! I have the tasks for each room broken down, but I won't share those here, at least, not in this post.  But, I will be sharing my progress here with you over the next month, if you'd like to follow along. Maybe you've been inspired to get your house in order and start prepping early for the holidays, too, and you're certainly welcome to join! Nothing official, just comment and share your progress throughout the month, it would be fun to cheer each other on!

And with that, it's time I get to it, friends! I hope your Monday is blessed! I'll see you back here soon!

❊

Homemaking Mondays In May: The Theology of Homemaking A Four Part Formation Series — Week Four: Who You Are Becoming Matters More Than What You Do

I think I used to approach homemaking mostly as something I needed to do well.

Keep things in order.

Stay on top of everything.

Create a home that felt peaceful and looked cared for.

And while those things matter, they are not the deepest thing happening here.

Because beneath the routines and responsibilities, something quieter is taking place.

You are becoming someone.

Not all at once.
Not dramatically.
Not in ways the world would necessarily notice.

But slowly, through ordinary faithfulness.

Through the constant opportunities to lay down your own pace, your own preferences, your own expectations for how the day “should” go.

Through the interruptions.
Through the repetition.
Through the small daily choices to respond gently when frustration would feel easier.

And I think this is one of the hidden mercies of homemaking: it reveals us, but it also reshapes us.

It exposes impatience.
It softens sharp edges.
It teaches endurance in places we didn’t know we needed it.

“Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

- ROMANS 5:3–4

There are forms of spiritual formation that can only happen through staying.

Through tending the same spaces.
Through loving the same people over long stretches of ordinary time.
Through embracing a life where much of the work is repeated tomorrow.

And while that kind of life may seem small from the outside, God never treats formation as small.

Because He is not only concerned with what you accomplish.

He is deeply concerned with who you are becoming.

- Patient
- Steady
- Tender-hearted
- Faithful in unseen places
- Strong in quiet ways that no longer need applause to feel valuable.

Your home is not just something you are building, it is a place God is using to build you.

And maybe that changes the questions we carry.

Not:

“Did I get enough done today?”

But:

“Did I become a little more loving?

A little more grounded?

A little more like Christ in the middle of ordinary life?”

Because long after the laundry is forgotten, the meals are eaten, and the rooms are rearranged again, the character formed within you remains.

The work matters.

But who you are becoming matters even more.

If this idea of homemaking as spiritual formation resonates with you, these books pair beautifully with this week’s reflection:

The Life You've Always Wanted — A gentle, deeply practical invitation into spiritual formation through everyday life and ordinary habits.

The Practice of the Presence of God — A quiet classic about finding communion with God in simple daily tasks and hidden work.

Adorned — A thoughtful reflection on biblical womanhood, discipleship, and the beauty of a faithful life lived within the home.

Liturgy of the Ordinary — A beautiful exploration of how God meets us through everyday routines and repetitive moments.

They each remind us in different ways that spiritual growth rarely happens through grand moments alone.

More often, it happens quietly, right in the middle of daily life.

❊

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A Holy Reordering: Recovering Peace Room By Room- The Bedroom — Rest as a Spiritual Discipline

The bedroom is a threshold. It is the place where the day ends, a space where the quiet can feel holy—or it can feel heavy, depending on what we carry in our hands, in our minds, in our hearts. Lent asks us not to rush past this room, but to pause. To notice where we have held on too tightly, where we have expected rest without receiving it, where our souls have gone unnoticed even as we prepared the space for sleep.

“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

— Matthew 11:28

Even a room that looks calm can carry the imprint of a restless spirit. The sheets may be folded, the surfaces cleared, but the tension that we have carried all day lingers in the air. The bedroom is honest in this way: it reflects what is inside before we even lay down. And it offers a gift: the opportunity to release, to receive, to let stillness settle.

Soft linens, gentle light, surfaces tended with care—these are not signs of perfection, but invitations. Each small gesture of attention can become a prayer, a quiet alignment of the outer room with the inner spirit. Lent calls us to notice the edges where tension lingers, not with judgment, but with tenderness.

A hurried heart unsettles even the coziest sheets.

An anxious mind can make the softest blankets feel heavy.

A spirit carrying burdens cannot yet rest fully.

❊ A Gentle Evening Offering

Tonight, linger in your bedroom. Fold a blanket, clear a nightstand, or move objects with attention. As you do, breathe slowly and whisper:

“As this space rests, may my heart rest with You.”

No rush. No striving. No expectation of perfection. Just presence. Let the act reflect the spiritual invitation to release tension, receive calm, and welcome Sabbath.

Notice how the room feels lighter, how the quiet begins to settle, how your own spirit echoes that stillness. When rest begins in the heart, the home follows naturally. The bedroom becomes more than a room—it becomes a sanctuary, a mirror of the Sabbath God offers freely.

Next Monday, we will turn to the living room—or, as some call it, the family room—a space of gathering, conversation, and shared life. We will explore how tending this space with intention nurtures calm, rhythm, and hospitality in the heart of the home.

Tonight, step slowly into your bedroom. Move with awareness. Breathe. Receive rest.

Room by room.

Heart first.