Beginings

Creative Cleaning~My Story

It all started with a MESS!

Laundry mountain high, both sinks full of dishes, things growing out of the dust, and toys all over. Yes~that is my house most of the time. LOL! Being a wife, a mother of two, and a homemaker was harder than I thought. My life was a mess and I was stressed. What happened to my organized life? What happened to my time? What happened to having everything under control? The answer……LIFE!

Even with the most amazing husband and adoring children, I felt that I was loosing it all. I couldn’t keep up with everything and time…well time passed ~ then the mirror changed how I looked. What was happening? And the crazy thing, what used to take me an hour now took me all day. Was I really a bad wife? Was I doing things wrong? How do I get a grip on this thing called LIFE? Time and lots of prayer!

God answered those questions and my prayer! Proverbs 31:27a in the Bible says, “She looketh well to the ways of her household.” I was doing a bible study about Proverbs and this verse was profound to me. I prayed that God would elaborate and show me what I was supposed to do with this verse and in time, he did.

One day I was hanging out with some of my friends and we were letting our kids play together.We started talking about all sorts of things. How are kids were successful at their milestones, what we all were doing on the weekend, and mostly just complaining about all “we had to do.” Then the verse just opened a new door. This moment was the start of something good. Something better and I had to share.

“Hey girls, I have an idea.” I exclaimed. “Instead of all of the negative talk, lets find some creative ways to help us with all our stress.” Everyone liked the idea so we started an email chain and sent each other ideas about everything. From easier ways to clean the shower to coping with the kiddos. This was great!!! It was so nice to be able to ask for help and get help on what we did everyday. God was revealing HIS plan and a ministry.

A few years went by and our Creative Talk was spreading. I then starting thinking that I needed to do more. So I prayed that God would show me the next step. One day, I found out that my friend had her baby early and she needed help. Her home wasn’t as ready as she had hoped, and so I offered to clean her home and get things ready for their family homecoming. I did things like, washed the babies clothes and put them up, put clean sheets on all the beds, vacuumed , then made dinner, and finally set out Welcome Home signs! The look of gratitude on my friends face can never be replaced. My heart had so much JOY— I knew that I needed to do this more often for people. From new babies coming home, to people having surgery, to JUST BECAUSE; cleaning house’s become a part-time job. I loved being able to help others feel great when they came home.

Even as a pre-school teacher, and sub-teacher for the school district, God was directing me to something more than just cleaning. While I was loving on those all those kiddos, learning all the time, and coming home to love on my family, I realized that we are all busy. We all have lives that require us to take care of so much. As women, we are designed to be nurturer, caregivers, and most importantly, a servant of Christ. We are to help, to encourage and to bless others. We are to teach the young and learn from the old. As soon as I thought I was done, God moved again. Exciting!

The phone rang and it was one of the ladies that I had been cleaning her home for about 3 months. We set up a few more cleanings and the she told me something I didn’t expect. She stated that with all of the things I was doing and how I was helping so many people with my ideas, that I should do workshops, and possibly a website. WOW! What? ME??? My first thought was, I am not a professional and I do not know everything. In fact, I was in the learning process my self~so how could I do anything like that? Well, God answered that question the very next day. I was invited to speak at a MOPS event. Afterwards, I also held about 5 workshops at my home and a few workshops at other friends home! THIS WAS SO FUN! Sharing my ideas and they shared their ideas and everyone always having fun just getting together. God was showing me that “Helping other’s have less stress from cleaning the mess,” was not only helping me to be a better wife and mom, but was a ministry that lead to more understanding of Proverbs 31. Yep…that is where my motto came from!

So, my life became busy with cleaning houses, workshops, speaking events, the beginning of my own blog/website, and then the final stage. I call it my “Labor of Love.” This is where I actually would meet with people; do a home evaluation, and sometimes do the job for them. Did you know that there are professional Organizers? I didn’t at first but I do know now!  I have more research opportunities to learn more skills, and it’s more fun than ever! Learning as I go, and helping as I grow.  🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I still have Stress days and Messy days, but God has been showing me that I can help my self by helping others. The journey has taught me that God wants me to do the best I can, with what I have, for my family, for HIS glory!!! The truth~~~I am good enough; I can do it; and when I put God first, everything that needs to get done gets done; and finally when I do get stressed out from cleaning the mess, I can recall God’s words. “She looketh well to the ways of her household.” Proverbs 31:27a

God has shown me exciting scriptures of truth in this journey.

I would like to share my favorites with you!

• Jesus loves me. John 3:16
• Hope is a confident expectation that God will do the very best thing in my life, even though I cannot see it or know when my hopeful moments are upon me. Heb. 11:1
• God will never let me go. Heb. 13:1
• I put my trust in God who knows my past, present and future. Jer. 29:11
• God timing is always perfect. Rev. 1:8
• I have a Best friend who knows exactly what I need to know. James 1:5
• Life will be difficult sometimes but I am not alone. Rev. 7:17
• No temptation is too difficult…there is always a way out. 1 Cor. 10:13
• Sometimes I need to just rest. To take a moment and remember I am blessed.Psalms 46:10

We may get crumbled, dirty or stumped on, but we are still worthy because our value doesn’t change. Give God your reputation…We can be the feet that touch the earth and the heart that touches heaven.

For we are a child of a King! Eph. 1:3-22

God has blessed you in so many ways,

Rejoice in those Blessings everyday, and your heart will be full!

In HIS Love and Service,

Renee Royal