Lord Give Me Strength to Organize, Again!

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In his book, Extraordinary, John Bevere, reminds us that Christian women are supposed to be strong and able. He points out that God was speaking to both men and women when he commanded them to “Prosper, reproduce, fill the earth and take charge”(Genesis 1:26-28). Does this sound like God meant for you to be the “weaker” sex? It sounds to me like you must take up your sword and declare war on the clutter in your home, office, garage, and car!

The man is the designated priest of the household and is responsible for the spiritual journey of his household. However, the woman is responsible to ensure the household is run effectively and efficiently. I urge you to have the strength to take charge of your household. No matter what stage you are in life, you are the Chief Operations Officer of your household. Take charge of our household and run it in a way that pleases God—orderly and peaceful. That does not mean you become a dictator and/or control freak and start ordering everyone around or throwing out everyone’s treasures. It does mean that you establish routines, systems, checklists and boundaries in your household that everyone understands and respects. It is so much easier to keep your home organized when your family has bought in to the systems and procedures you have put in to place. Have the strength and courage to get their feedback and involve them in the creation of the organizing systems. Don’t let your family down by taking the easy route and decide to organize and maintain the systems yourself. Yes, that is the easy route because then you can avoid all battles or hostile negotiations.

Have the strength to set firm boundaries in your home in relation to everyone’s stuff. Here are some examples of firm boundaries:

• No toys in the master bedroom. It is not appropriate to allow the children’s stuff to invade the husband and wife’s intimate sanctuary.
• No garage tools in the kitchen.
• All toys in the bedroom or playroom. Children can play with their toys in other areas, but ensure they pick them up each night and put them away.
• Only allow a maximum of four spiritual or intimacy books on the nightstand. All other books need to be removed from the bedroom.
• All mail goes in the “In Basket”. It is not acceptable for the mail to end up all over the house.

To run your households like a well-oiled machine here are a few suggestions for taking charge:

• Create a list called “Who Is Responsible For What”
• Create “Exit Checklists” for each child that covers school, activities and sports
• Establish clear expectations about chores and consistently enforce them or administer punishments to fit the “crime”
• Establish systems for paper/mail, laundry, discards, library books, school work/artwork
• Establish a home for everything and teach everyone the location and label clearly
• Put everything away in its home everyday
• Establish routines for each phase of the day
• Before work/school
• After work/school
• Before bed

Once the new rules and boundaries are set, be strong and enforce them! As the Chief Operations Officer of your household, you must be the enforcer. If you don’t feel like going in to battle with the children, then pray for strength. You must win most of the battles to conquer the clutter war. If you want to raise your children up in the way that they should go then they have to actually organize with your guidance. If you give in to their moans and groans and do their work for them, you will rob them of the necessary motor skills and knowledge set necessary to retain the critical organizing skills.

Getting organized is not a luxury, it is a necessity. In today’s fast-paced life, keeping your time and space organized is a survival skill necessary to maintain peace and joy on the home front. If you tend to get bit by the lazy bug just before starting an organizing project I urge you to pray for strength. It is so easy to procrastinate and rationalize our behavior. God warns us about losing the strength to do the necessary things in life: If a [woman] is lazy, the rafters sag; if [her] hands are idle, the house leaks. (Ecclesiastes 10:18)

You may be thinking that God called you to be a Queen and has not called you to maintain a home. You may be thinking this because you were not blessed with the ‘organizing gene”.

If you were not blessed with organizing skills than be wise and be strong and do one of three things:

• Trade services with a friend or a relative who is super organized. Share your gift with the world and let others share theirs with you.
• Take classes with a professional organizer to learn the methods a professional uses.
• Hire a professional organizer.

We can look to the Proverbs 31 woman for inspiration. She was an incredibly organized, strong and successful wife, mother, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Are you thinking, “No way could I ever be half the woman she was?” If you want a peaceful and orderly home you must believe that God can give you the strength to get up off the coach and start organizing!