Hi Ladies! How have you been? A lot has been going on around our house. First of all, I want to apologize because I know I am really behind on these devotions! I didn’t mean to get so behind and I plan to be caught up this coming week.

We have our annual campmeeting coming up in just over a week. My husband and I teach 100+ primary age kids every year for 9 days and 21 lessons and it’s a big deal. So much planning goes into these meetings! I just LOVE teaching kids and I love setting up the set and making the theme come alive for the kids so that they can really experience something special.

I’ve had to finalize my program this and last week and with being gone from home everyday for half the day this week and almost everyday for the last few weeks has really put me behind, so I had no choice but to get the program done and the orders made.

Last Thursday we returned to the rheumatologist for Emily’s follow-up visit. I want to praise God because the pain she’s been having in her joints is not rheumatoid arthritis and it’s not lupus which we were worried about. She did have a number of the pressure points for fybromyalgia, but not enough to assume that’s what she had. Her thyroid levels were in the normal range but higher than he would have liked. He said that we should keep our eyes on that. But otherwise, all of her extensive blood work came back normal.

Of course, there’s still the pain… but knowing that it’s not a debilitating disease that might cripple her hands is such a relief.

We’ll be continuing the From Chaos to Calm series through the first week of June when it will end. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I just am not able at this time to continue producing the podcasts that go with the devotions. I plan to produce and publish the podcasts this summer. But with campmeeting upon me, there’s just no way I can do it all.

So, you’ll find the daily devotions and print outs available over the coming weeks. And I’ll let you know as I’m able to add the remaining podcasts.

I hope you understand. And I hope the series continues to be a blessing to you!

From Chaos to Calm: Day Forty-Six

Cleaning the Bathroom

Scripture Memory: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Download the .pdf version of this article.

Today’s Scripture memory calls us to humble ourselves. If any task in the home calls for us as wives and mothers to humble ourselves, it is cleaning the bathroom. The bathroom is one of the dirtiest rooms in the house and the tasks are not very pleasant.

Your bathroom should be one of the cleanest rooms in your house. It is typically a small space. And remember – the bathroom is the only room where guests go alone with time to sit and just look around… at the corners, around the bathtub, etc. Everyone will know your standard for clean by looking at your bathroom.

Make the bathroom part of your morning routine. Wipe down sinks after making the beds. Rinse the bathtubs after each bath has been taken, and so on. Then on a regular basis, make cleaning the bathroom part of your schedule with the following tasks…

Care for the Bathroom: Monthly:
1. Clean under the sink.
2. Clean out medicine cabinet.
3. Throw out old medications and old make up.
4. Take inventory of toilet paper, paper towels, soaps, shampoos, etc. Add those items that need replenishing to your shopping list. Purchase items when on sale and stock up.

Care for the Bathroom: Weekly:
1. Use a small hand held whisk broom or brush and sweep the floor, dusting the baseboards as you go.
2. Fill a bucket with warm or hot water and add a disinfectant to the water.
3. Add a disinfectant to the toilet bowl. Swish it around with the toilet bowl brush and allow to soak while you clean the rest of the bathroom.
4. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands.
5. Use separate cloths or sponges for cleaning the toilet and sink and floor.
6. Begin by cleaning the sink and cabinets. Use a mild detergent or abrasive for cleaning inside the sink, around the fixtures, the cabinets, and the walls around the sink.
7. Rinse and clean soap dish. Wipe off the light switch.
8. Dust vanity light bulbs.
9. Clean mirrors.
10. Sprinkle a mild abrasive or spray your preferred bath tub cleaner into the bath/ shower. Use a sponge to scrub away soap scum build up and water marks. Doing this weekly instead of once the tub is gross will reduce the effort! Liquid bleach gets rid of mildew. Rinse tub well.
11. Saturate a sponge in the bucket of water. Squeeze excess moisture out and begin scrubbing the baseboards. Because of the moisture in the bathroom, dust tends to dry and stick to the baseboards causing them to look dingy and unattractive. Move around the room, rinsing your sponge as needed. Dust window sills, cobwebs, top of door molding, and top of shower.
12. Saturate a sponge in the bucket of water. Squeeze excess moisture out and clean around top of toilet, working your way down the sides of the toilet. Rinse sponge as needed.
13. Using a sponge and a product such as Mop and Glo, scrub floor until it sparkles. Begin mopping in the corner of bathroom and work your way out of the room. Leave the room and make sure no one goes in until the floor is dry – about 20 minutes. You can place a fan on the floor to speed this drying time.
14. Pour dirty water outside or down the toilet. Disinfect sponges or cloths in a bucket of fresh water and bleach. 1/2 cup of bleach per gallon of water. Soak them for at least five minutes. Rinse well and air dry.

Care for the Bathroom: Daily:
1. Rinse tub after bathing. ** Optional: Spray a Daily Shower Spray formula in the shower to help prevent soap scum build up. **
2. Wipe down sink, faucets, with a fresh cloth.
3. Wipe down toilet seat with another fresh cloth.
4. Clean mirror after everyone has brushed their teeth.
5. Hang fresh hand towels.
6. Spray air freshener and leave the room.

By cleaning the bathroom on a regular basis, you will find that the task only takes minutes each day and hardly more on your weekly cleaning day. If you have not already, add this task to your daily schedule and determine when is the best day to do the scrubbing.

Cleaning the bathroom shouldn’t be drudgery! Smile in your heart while doing these ordinary, seemingly mundane, tasks. Let peace wash over you and feel content knowing that your family is well taken care of.

Good morning, Ladies! How was your weekend? I have to say, I really enjoyed my weekend. The sun was shining – after days of thunderstorms. I spent Sunday afternoon getting the house cleaned and I even had time to shampoo my carpets which were in desperate need of attention. The house feels so clean this morning!

I’ve been trying to be more intentional about my homemaking and blessing my family at home. Want to share your intentional goals for this week? Join my Linky Party: Sundays at Home {a new blog hop}.

Is your home feeling fresher? Today’s lesson is all about laundry! Have fun!

What have you been working on?

P.S. I sure would appreciate it if you would pin one of these images to Pinterest or share on Facebook! Thanks so much for your help!

Download Spring Cleaning for the Heart and Home: Day 10

Today’s giveaway is:

Motherhood e-Book, AWOW Spring 2009,

available in our Proverbs 31 Bookstore, valued at $5.95!

In order to be entered into the drawing, you must comment below. Let’s discuss the lesson!

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Springtime has arrived in full force here in Harlan. My yard is blooming with several dogwood trees and red bud trees have made their show this week.

The daffodils are on their way out, although some flowers are still lingering and they are so happy. I just love them.

The girls love to pick them and I always have jars and vases filled with daffodils around the house in March and April.

The cherry trees and pear trees have gotten their leaves now and lost their blooms, but everything is such a bright green!

We planted these trees in honor of our children and I take a picture of the girls in front of their trees each year when they are in bloom so we can see how the girls and the trees have grown together! I had home births with Hannah and Laura and we saved the placenta from their births and put the placenta in the ground when we planted the trees. Since then, we have planted trees in honor of our older children, too.

See how green the grass is now? We get A LOT of rain in Harlan, year round. We don’t ever go more than a day or so without rain and then it will rain for days.

This is our picnic area in our front yard. We have a lot of family get-togethers out here. Right now it’s just so lovely. You can see our “bird feeding tree” – the beautiful Cherokee Dogwood that has a deep, dark pink bloom. It’s one of my favorite trees.

We had an impromptu picnic last Monday evening and invited a lot of our family {15 of us} over. Such good memories! Here’s a snapshot of the quick meal I threw together {since my husband decided at 4:00 to call everyone over}:

This is the first time we have a nest in our birdhouse! I hope we have babies!

So, last week I was gone from home an awful lot. Unfortunately, since my father-in-law passed away, I have to sit with my husband’s uncle even more often now. It used to be just Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Now, if my mother-in-law goes grocery shopping or has an “in-town” appointment she needs someone to go sit at the house while she’s gone. Before, Grandpa Robert would look after Uncle Kenneth.

Anyway, I don’t know what this week has in store for me. I hope to home more. My house really shows it when I’m gone.

So my goals for this week:

1. Get caught up on laundry.
2. Bake bread – we’re out.
3. Get a lot of writing done.
4. Spend Sunday afternoon whipping the house back into shape.

What are your plans for the week? I want to invite you to join my {Intentional Homemaking Linky Party}!

Here are the rules:

• Please link directly to your Intentional Homemaking blog post.
• Share your goals for intentional homemaking this week.
• Your blog post can be about anything homemaking related.
• Please link back here using the free graphic above or using a text link so others can find us too!
• Next week, I will feature my favorite post!

Last week, Sharp Lady Musings shared with us her goals for cleaner eating!

Thank you for joining me!