A place of refuge: Choosing to control the stuff in your home

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

It may not be a love of money, but it seems many have a love of stuff. We have bigger houses and either use our garage or a storage unit to store all the stuff that will not fit into our house. Closets are getting bigger to store all our clothes and shoes. (I even know of one that has a spiral stair case in the closet.) And we have so much stuff it drives us crazy because we have to pick it up or clean it. We have chosen to be stuck in this endless cycle. Another part of that cycle is instead of getting rid of anything or stop buying more stuff, we buy bigger houses so we can get more stuff. And the funniest part is we cannot take any of it with us when we die. It is time we choose to simplify our lives and homes. We must choose to simplify not just for us but for the next generation also. We must choose to stop the cycle.

Maybe a single guy who only has one plate, one fork, one knife, one spoon, one bowl and one cup is right. Just have what you need. Use it and wash it for the next time that way you don’t have a lot of dishes to wash. Keep it simple and you will not get overwhelmed. When you do not get overwhelmed you have less stress.

Before, we talked about the purpose of our homes. If we look at those purposes and choose to use them then our home becomes a place it should be.

If our home is a place of refuge…

1. We must choose to set it up as a place of refuge not a museum.

If your home is to be a place where your family and friends can come together then do not waste money on expensive items that you worry about something happening to. Decorate your house, but do it for comfort and fellowship not for show. People are going to remember your home as place that welcomed them not by the expensive painting.

2. We must choose to keep the laundry pile out of the living room and bedroom.

Why do we let the laundry control us? Most people's houses are ran by their laundry. A couple cannot enjoy their bedroom because the laundry has overtaken it. After a long day you cannot come home and sit because the laundry is already chilling on the couch.

Whether you stay at home, work or go to school, you can gain control of your laundry. You need to schedule your laundry and use a schedule that works with your personality. If you lose focus easily, don’t try to do all your laundry in one day. Here are a few options:

A. Schedule a daily load

This one is great if you work or can only focus for a short time. Pick an evening to sort all the dirty laundry. Make a schedule to do a different load each night. Throw the load in at night and either throw it in the dryer when done or the next morning on the way out the door. When you get home, you can put up the one load or assign it as a chore if you have kids. Repeat the next load the same way. It is simple. Wash while you sleep, dry while you work, put up one load when you get home. It is so simple to put up one load at a time instead of all laundry.

B. Tackle It All

If you are not focused this will not work for you. If you stay at home or have a day to devote to laundry, this one works. Sort all laundry, start with your smallest and quickest to dry load. Wash all your loads, saving biggest and longest to dry for last. If you arrange your loads correctly, you will save time and get done faster. As it comes out of the dryer, sort the laundry by person, closet or cabinet. Once all the laundry is done and sorted, put up one closet at a time. If the occupier of the closet is old enough have them put up their own clothes. It creates a nice flow and keeps it nice and organized.

C. Short on time or really behind

If you are really behind or have a really busy week you may need to do a one time trip to the laundry mat and get it all done quickly. One trip will get you caught up and then you can choose a laundry routine.

Just like everything else, we cannot try to get to our laundry. We will never want to do our laundry. We have to choose to schedule it and stick to a schedule that works for you.

We have a lot to cover over the next couple of days. But we will take it one step at a time.

Homework

1. Is your home a museum or refuge?

2. How can you make your home more of a refuge?

3. Choose to win the battle of the laundry.

4. Choose a laundry schedule that works for you.

If you need help scheduling, please let me know. I will help you find a schedule that works for you.