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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

Getting & Staying Organized

I posted something short earlier, but God’s been nudging me to come back and invite you to be part of something He’s laid on my heart.

  • If you knew that having more order in your home would bring more order to your world – freeing up your time, emotions, thougths and spiritual gifts to do what God’s called you to do – would you make it a priority?

 

  • If you knew it was actually possible, would you take some small steps towards getting and staying organized?

 

After posting confessions of my cluttered counter tops, closets and cabinets, I worked for a few hours on the mess in my nest. And, I feel like I’ve lost 10 mental pounds! The feeling of freedom that followed my progress is amazing. I promise to post photos later this week of my “before and after.”

Today God reminded me of 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” In the context of this verse, Paul is talking about order in the church. But in the context of our lives this truth also applies.

Order is part of God’s character and peace is the promised fruit of His spirit.

Our longing for order and peace is woven into our souls because we are created in God’s likeness. Our spirits long for a lack of confusion. The Holy Spirit has been showing me since last week that this is a big deal. We care about our homes and want to be good managers of our piles and files. As I read your challenges and honestly assessed how I’ve been feeling about mine, I sensed that our messes are not only piling up – they are weighing us down. Consider this:

  • When you see your organizationally challenged areas, do you feel a sense of peace or defeat? Do you get all irritated inside?

 

  • Does your life start to feel out of control when you think about what you need to do to get organized but feel like you have no time to do it?

 

Can I encourage you to give yourself the gift of bringing a little order to your world. A little peace to your heart and home. I want to gather some girlfriends to encourage and pray for each other this week, and commit together to tackle one of our organizational challenges. Will you join me?

And because we all need some incentive, I’m giving away another copy of Karen’s book “The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized”, and some organizational pretties!

If you want to join in this quest, click on the word “Comments” at the end of this post and tell me what one area will you give an hour or so to this week. Your commitment will qualify you for the give-away. And will you pray for the person who leaves a comment right before yours? I’ll leave the first one. Then for a second chance to win, click here and get the encouragement you need to finish what you start.

On Friday, I have another P31 friend and author who is writing a book called, “I Used to Be So Organized” who is going to stop by to encourage, pray for and help us with some very practical ideas! And I’m working on having my before & after photos up then, too.

Don’t want to miss any updates?
I have a few places in my sidebar where you can stay connected via Google connect or Facebook, and sign up for email updates. By the way, I love having you along!

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Comments

  2. I'm praying for you, Sonja! 🙂
    Mine would be organizing my craft room. We just moved/down-sized and I've worked hard to keep all the rooms and areas as clutter-free as possible–it's awesome!!
    I do have a dedicated craft space. I love to make cards of encouragement to send scripture or prayers to people who need a pick-me-up. BUT, I need my space to be super-functional, where I can quickly make something AND quickly put it away. I'd love it to be pretty and a nice place to be, too, and possibly even a spot where my friends can come "work," too! It's the last space in the new house that's not organized. It comes last, of course, because it's "mine," not a common area.

  3. Oh Renee what a tough subject for me. I have committed 8 hours on Saturday at work with my boss to get my filing caught up, but I will also commit an hour this weekend to get my laundry (all clean) put away. I'm great at getting it washed, dried and folded, but more often than not, it sits in the basket or on my bedroom floor and I just get dressed out of that. To compound that, I have a 9 year old daughter whose clothes are in the same pile. My piles of papers on my kitchen counter would require another commitment, and this is part of my life that I have been praying about and trying to get cleaned up. Please pray for my continued transformation. Praises to Sonja on cleaning up your office! Mine will hopefully be like that soon! God Bless. Julie

  4. I hopped over from Lisa Smith's page too… and FOR ONCE… I have a FINISHED product, my office just got the final touches and it is now organized and ready!! (Never mind about the closet.. that's coming too…):) The final touch was the window treatment and I wanted a white wood shutter on either side, to frame the window without curtains. I went to our huge flea market in Texas and bought 2 white wood shutters, BRAND NEW… this dealer had a load of rejects from Home Depot or one of those big stores, and they were ONE DOLLAR each!! They fit perfectly, and I am happy!! (Lowe's had already told me they would have to custom order the size – over $200)…

    Yes. I agree with you. Our lives are freed up when there is less clutter to contend with. God loves order, in my heart, and in my office!

    Great word here today Renee!

    Blessings!

    Sonja

  5. Found you through Lisa Smith. I will participate since I need to organize my house and my life.
    Although every room in the house needs help, I am going to start with my bedroom. A pile of papers have multiplied and taken over one corner. I am working a half day at work tomorrow and will dedicate the remainder of the day to FINALLY getting the piles cleaned up and put away before they multiply again.

  6. This is my 1st time visiting here, & How timely for me. Do you know that feeling? ….when the task is so overwhelming that you do nothing. That has been my thoughts lately.. My "stuff" is over-taking my life.
    You are motivating me to do something. I will start in my fabric room… & go from there.
    Thanks for the push : ) & the reminder that God really does want me to live in/with His Peace.

  7. Thanks Renee for such a great post. I need to commit to organizing our home so I can feel more at peace. This week I am going to work on the pile on my diningroom table and filing away the paperwork where it belongs.

    I am praying for all of you ladies.

    Have a great week.

    Deb V

  8. Marla, it will be easy to remember your mess, because that's mine, too. If my kitchen tabe is cleaned off, it's migrated to the dining room or desk – any flat spot will do. I know what I'd like to accomplish, but I don't know where to begin. And it seems like such a BIG project.

  9. I need to commit to getting through all my paperwork and get bills in order and cleaning off my kitchen table. My kitchen table seems to be the place where everything goes when we walk in the door. Everynight before dinner, I need to push things out of the way so we can sit down to eat. I really need to get these 2 things tackled. thank you for the support.

  10. I am committing to clean out my office closet. Why is it so hard to ask for help? I was going to post last night and changed my mind. 10 minutes later I am looking for my son's SS card and spent the next hour not finding it. Thanks for praying. Going back in to look some more.

  11. This is something I've been struggling with too. I've decided to tackle one area at a time, starting with my son's bookshelf of toys in the dining room and working my way around the house. Thanks for the inspiration.

  12. Hi ladies! I'm tackling my closet this week. I had already decided to do that so ya'll hold me accountable!! Next week's challenge is the piles of paper in my office.

    Renee, yes! Disorganization makes me feel all of those ways. This is a good word!!

    I'm praying for you all.

  13. I'm going to tackle the closet and seasonal clothing sorting dilemma in the room my two daughters share. I'm sure it will take me more than just an hour but that would be a good start:) Thanks for the challenge!

  14. Thank you so much for your authenticity in showing us that you too struggle with this.
    Today I was becoming overwhelmed by areas in our home and it was making me feel out of sorts. The enemy was sure doing a number on me. It just so happens that I have already started to do some things to get organized before reading your post. I am committing to organizing our family room and master bedroom.

    Guess what I found in my organization time? A little devo on cleaning out your closet. Guess He really means it is TIME He has begun a new work in me and I need to be obedient.

    Hugs n prayers for you all!!

  15. Just before cooking dinner I went in to my bathroom. When I opened the drawer where I keep my makeup- I was a little overwhelmed. I took abouyt forty-five minutes going through cosmetic bags and throwing old makeup away. Just that little bit of organization makes me feel better about going back into my bathroom. I need to tackle an area in my den where I have books, papers and cards sitting around.

  18. I've not had the time today to load my "afer" photos as I had promised so I'll post those tomorrow. It takes a bunch of time to load photos on blogger, doesn't it? They will be so fitting with what my friend is going to share with us tomorrow on organizing paper. And it's all going to motivate us to keep going.

    As I read through your comments today, I am praying again for each of you. I am so proud of you for taking time to do this. I want your hearts to be encouraged and united as one.

    This matters to God because we matter to God. He wants our best. Let's allow the guiding and wisdom of His spirit to establish our steps that lead to PEACE as we organize our messes and file our piles. Hugs and cheers. Don't give up!!

  19. I love what I call God winks…just spent this morning before work filing the stack of paid bills and assorted other paperwork, that had been piling up on my kitchen table for close to three months now. Can't believe how much better I feel knowing that I won't have that to look at tonight when I walk through the door. Thank you for the blessing and encouragement of your blog.

  20. We 'simplified' our decor and lifestyle a few years ago and love having less to care for, clean, sort, etc. 🙂 However, would appreciate your prayers as my parents moved to a retirement home this summer from a house on our farm ….. and the thought of sorting through the remainder of their things has been enough to keep me from starting the process!

    Thanks for the encouraging post, Renee. Praying for you and all the others who have commented.
    Sharon from Ontario Canada.