Doing Good Deeds

For those of you who have been wondering if I am staying on track with my new commitment to cleaning-- [see Tuesday, July 20, 2004-- Diapers, Dusting, and Discipline...]-- I am happy to report that my house is CLEAN!  I have spent the past two days sweeping, dusting, scrubbing, purging, moping, washing, and organizing.  
 
When I get on one of these cleaning binges-- which isn't often-- I really do it right.  To illustrate the insanity-- today I cleaned my washer and dryer inside and out-- all the little knobs and everything; I vacuumed my blinds; I washed down my kitchen cabinets.  Yesterday I scrubbed all the baseboards in my foyer, kitchen, powder room, and dining room with a toothbrush and wiped them down with a rag! 

The challenge is how long I will be able to maintain this clean house paradise!  It amazes me how fast things can become messed up again!  How many times have I vowed to perpetuate this Martha Stewart mindset only to slip back into sloppy old habits.  I'll keep you posted!

We had several couples over tonight to discuss our Marriage Builders' Class at Woodmont-- the main motivating factor for my cleaning streak! It was a time for us to plan and examine how things are going in the class and what things still need to be done.  It was a good meeting-- they are a great bunch of people.  I feel like we are all on the same page...

It's funny that we all grew up in families where church was such a high priority.  We were there every time the doors were open-- literally-- for every service, fellowship meal, gospel meeting-- everything!  We all watched our parents dedicate their time and energies to the church family and benefited from the relationships that resulted from the church community.

Now that we have families of our own, I think we are all starting to crave that same "community" that we knew as children.  The main difference is that the churches we knew as children operated from a slightly different motivation.  They were more legalistic and pretty much required total dedication and participation in church activities.  We have been "freed" from the "do good deeds or else" mentality to a more grace-oriented mindset at Woodmont, but with that perspective, it is so easy to lapse into laziness as far as church duty goes-- since there is no "fear" to motivate us.  No one is going to make us feel bad if we aren't at every function or signed up on every committee.... 

I think we are all starting to realize that even in a grace-oriented church we should be just as committed.  Our motivation is no longer fear or tradition, but thankfulness and love for all He has done for us.  Being active and accountable to a church family is a good thing, and there are many of us who are seriously starting to pursue a more active role.

How blessed we were to have parents who modeled that kind of discipline for us!  I hope that Scott and I can be that kind of example to Luke. We are so thankful that we will be able to raise him along with our friends and our church family.