Category Archives: Cleaning

Are You Washed By The Water!?!

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John 3:5

“Jesus answered,

Very truly I tell you,

no one can enter the kingdom of God

unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'”

The story behind the song:

-Bear Rinehart-

Needtobreathe

“It’s a song about my dad.

He’s a pastor.

He just uh, he went through –

if you know anything about how preachers are,

they just…

You know,

there’s a lot of stuff that gets said in the church.

There was some stuff that got said at our church

that actually turned out to not be true

when it all came out, or whatever.

I just thought it was a cool thing

that my dad kept his integrity throughout that whole situation.

Yeah, and we put sort of a gospel feel to it.

There’s a gospel choir on the record that we recorded.

And yeah. It’s one of my favorites too.”

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Even when the rain falls

Even when the flood starts rising

Even when the storm comes

I am washed by the water

Daddy was a preacher

She was his wife

Just tryin’ to make the world a little better

You know, shine a light

People started talking

Trying to hear their own voice

Those people tried to accuse my father

Said he made the wrong choice

Though it might be painful

You know that time will always tell

Those people have long since gone

My father never failed

Even when the rain falls

Even when the flood starts rising

Even when the storm comes

I am washed by the water

Even if the Earth crumbles under my feet

Even if the ones I love turn around and crucify me

I won’t never ever let you down

Won’t fall, won’t fall, won’t fall

as long as you’re around me

Even when the rain falls

Even when the flood starts rising

Even when the storm comes

I am washed by the water

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Hebrews 10:22

“…let us draw near to God

with a sincere heart

and with the full assurance that faith brings,

having our hearts sprinkled

to cleanse us from a guilty conscience

and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

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Ephesians 5:25-26

“…just as Christ loved the Church

and gave Himself up for Her 

to make Her Holy,

cleansing Her

by the washing with water

through the Word,”

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John 13:5-11

“After that, He poured water into a basin

and began to wash His disciples’ feet,

drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.

He came to Simon Peter,

who said to Him,

‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’

Jesus replied,

You do not realize now what I am doing,

but later you will understand.’

No,’ said Peter, ‘You shall never wash my feet.’

Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you,

you have no part with Me.’

‘Then, Lord,’

Simon Peter replied,

‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’

 Jesus answered,

Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet;

their whole body is clean.

And you are clean,

though not every one of you.

For He knew who was going to betray Him,

and that was why He said not every one was clean.”

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Isaiah 12:2-3

“‘…Surely God is my salvation;   

I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself,

is my strength and my defense;   

He has become my salvation.’

With joy you will draw water   

from the wells of salvation.”

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John 4:14

“…but whoever drinks the water I give them

will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them

will become in them

a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

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John 7:38-39

“‘Whoever believes in Me,

as Scripture has said,

rivers of living water

will flow from within them.’

By this He meant the Spirit,

whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.

Up to that time the Spirit had not been given,

since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

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Revelation 22:1-2

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life,

as clear as crystal,

flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

down the middle of the great street of the city.

On each side of the river stood the Tree Of Life,

bearing twelve crops of fruit,

yielding its fruit every month.

And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”

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Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say,

‘Come!’

And let the one who hears say,

‘Come!’

Let the one who is thirsty come;

and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

Amen!

The Law Of “Clean-A-Tivity!!”

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If you know me…

Or, you’ve read my blog during this year…

You know I hate cleaning!

Oh, I love a clean house…

And basically work hard to keep it that way…

But when it gets away from me…

I give up

It defeats me!!

So I think there should be a law!

So everyone will know the state of the “clean-a-tivity” of my house!

The Law of “Clean-A-Tivity!”

My house is spotless=Come visit, stay over!!

“I just got done cleaning my house from top to bottom…

Dusting fans, cleaning windows, dusting furniture, mopping floors!

So come on over and stay a few days!!”

My house is clean=Come for lunch or dinner!

“Let’s have party!!

Ha!  Even use the bathrooms!”

My house is messy=Let’s meet somewhere for lunch!

“I do this a lot!!”

My house is dirty=Even I can’t stand it!

“Have company????  No, I really couldn’t!!”

Keeping a house clean is hard work…

Maybe you have help…

I have my son!  Ha!

For days on end, this summer…

I didn’t even get past the mailbox after cleaning…

It was such a mess and I was so far behind…

I just had to keep at it!

Day after day…

I kept thinking of my goal!!!!

I was determined my house would be cleaned BEFORE school started back again…

And BEFORE my summer vacation was completely gone!!

Talking about a clean house…

Makes me think about having a clean heart…

It’s hard to keep either of them that way!

Help me, Lord!!

Psalm 51:10

“Create in me a clean heart,

O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.”

Yes, Jesus, I pray…

Renew my mind and spirit…

Purify my heart and motives…

Sanctify my life for You!!

Is your heart right???

Can Jesus come and stay in your heart???

Or, is He just allowed to visit?

Can He just pop in?

Or do you say, “No way!”

Or, do you need to know when He’s coming???

Another Law of “Clean-A-Tivity!”

My heart is spotless=Jesus lives there!

My heart is clean=Jesus can visit!

My heart is messy=Jesus, let me know when you’re coming, so I can straighten up!

My heart is dirty=Jesus, you wouldn’t want to pop in here, even I can’t stand myself!

Jesus creates in us a clean heart…

Guard your heart!

It takes diligence on our part…

Ask for forgiveness immediately…

Don’t let things get away from you…

And pile up…

To the point where you’ll feel defeated…

And give up!!

Keep your heart clean…

Be aware…

Pray!

Ask Jesus for help!!

It’s much easier to keep a spotless House/Heart clean…

Than constantly picking up in a messy, dirty House/Heart…

Your mind is clear…

Not distracted by chaos and clutter!!

Let Jesus do the heavy cleaning to change your heart…

You’ll then be able to see the smallest speck of dirt…

And deal with it immediately!!

By confessing and receiving forgiveness!!

Proverbs 4:23

“Above all else, guard your heart,
   

 for everything you do flows from it.”

Amen!!

When Did Going On Vacation Become So Difficult???

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Apparently…

When I became an adult…

With responsibilities…

A family…

A job…

A house…

And a dog!!

When we were children…

We just hopped in the car…

And we left!

Okay, so we are packed…

But, it was a rough road to get to this point!! 

This vacation has been planned well in advance…

I’ve been looking forward to it all year…

You know how much I love the beach…

You know how much I love to be at the beach…

To read, to write, to do whatever I feel like doing, or nothing at all!!

But, working part-time this year…

As much of a ministry opportunity as it was…

Has put quite a crimp in my retired lifestyle…

Where all my ministries were challenging…

But, I was a volunteer…

And the beauty of that is that I still had control over my time…

 I’m feeling drained…

I’m really stressed…

I just don’t feel like going on vacation right now…

That’s crazy, I know!!

Plus, my poor, precious Crazy Siberian has not been feeling well lately…

We certainly all love her deeply…

But, we’ve all lost sleep…

Lots of sleep…

We’ve all cleaned up pee, poop, and throw-up…

More times than we care to…

We’ve made multiple runs to the vet with her…

And she definitely, ridiculously, horridly hates the car ride to see the vet!

It’s exhausting!!

We now have a calendar on our kitchen counter…

Just for her…

So we can keep track of all the medicines she’s on…

It’s just like living with a newborn, needy baby…

Which I remember so well…

Or, an ornery, elderly person…

Which I also remember!!

Teaching was so crazy at the end of the year…

That I lost my cool…

And it ceased to be fun…

I had to apologize for my grouchiness to everyone…

There, and at home, too!

 I really just want to stay home…

And vegetate on the couch!

But, no…

Not me!

I decided to tackle the humongous job of cleaning my house from top to bottom!

Starting with the ceiling fans the day after school got out…

My son, the one actually cleaning those fans…

Was not elated!

Well, that’s as far as we got…

When I had to stop cleaning to start packing for this vacation…

While dealing with a sick dog…

I hate packing…

Why can’t all my “stuff” just be there when I get there…

And I don’t do well with unfinished jobs…

So I’ll be planning my next cleaning job…

The blinds and windows…

For when we get back from vacation!

Rats!

Why do I do this to myself?

Please tell me to stop!

Take a deep breath…

Count to ten…

And enjoy my blessings of a wonderful beach vacation…

With my wonderful family…

And the whole summer off from work!

Just tell me, Lord…

I’ll listen to You!!

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“My son, if you receive My words and treasure up My commandments with you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,

if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5

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“Be anxious for nothing,

but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God,

which surpasses all comprehension,

will guard your hearts

and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

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Thank you, Lord!! 

Amen!

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“Blessings crown the head of the righteous…”

Proverbs 10:6

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I love the refrain of the old hymn:

“Count Your Many Blessings”

Count your blessings, name them one by one…
Count your blessings, see what God hath done…
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done!!

This is why I need to live in new houses, because 10 years goes by before I realize I’m not keeping up with the cleaning!!

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Yes…

I convinced my husband…

To let me get the floor tiles in my house…

Professionally cleaned…

As I begged Santa in an earlier post called…

Dear Santa…I want!!

We’ve been in FL…

In this house…

That we had built…

For 10 years!

And I just realized I’m not keeping up!!

Ten years of dog hair…

Dirt…

Grime…

Cooking grease…

Powder…

And just plain GUNK and YUK!

So, my husband found Bob, the handyman in our neighborhood…

Who has been doing odd jobs around our house for several years!

He came yesterday…

Put down some bleach, used a broom-like thing…

And within an hour…

Our Master bathroom floor was sparkling clean!

Like it was 10 years ago!!

The fumes were bad for my allergies…

But I sat outside on my lanai with my puppy…

Then wore a mask all day while inside…

We turned on all the ceiling fans…

And my husband set up extra fans…

We’ll get the rest of the house done on Tuesday!!

Yipee!!

What a great Christmas gift!!

But, woe is me!!

How will I keep it like that??

Tell everyone not to walk on it???

Ever again???

Shave off all my Crazy Siberian’s hair???

Never cook again???

Don’t use powder in the shower???

My problem???

While I am a neat freak…

Since I can’t think in clutter…

And I do love to keep the house organized…

And decorated nicely…

And I’m good at keeping up with the paperwork…

That my husband refuses to look at…

Because it drives him crazy…

As far as the…

Deep…

“Get myself dirty-bend down-mop-move things-go behind-reach up, get a step stool to clean top shelves, wipe ceiling fans, and dust all my trinkets…”

Kind of cleaning…

I’d rather WRITE than do that kind of cleaning!!

Hey…I’d rather RELAX than do that kind of cleaning!

Hey…I rather do ANYTHING ELSE than  do that kind of cleaning!

Too much to do…

Too little time…

Too much effort…

Too much back-breaking work!!!

Where does the time go???

Let’s see…God & family & dog, teaching, drama team stuff, reading, writing, Dr.’s apts., hair and nails apts.,etc., etc.!

DUh!

Deep cleaning doesn’t seem to be on this list…

Or…

Even on my radar…

Unless you’re coming to visit!

Ha!

Then I’m frantic!

Oh…

If I’d only keep up!!

Lord, please help me!

Or else…

It just might be time to move to another brand new house!!

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P.S.   Yes, along with my new squeaky clean floors…

I got a new Nikon Coolpix L610 camera for Christmas!!

  And tickets to see my friend’s daughter in “Sister Act” in Tampa on Saturday!!

Okay, Santa, I’m going to hold off on the losing weight request…

And just pray to maintain during Christmas!

Ha!  Let’s be realistic!

Thank you, Santa!!

Get prepared…

I’m going to ask for a cleaning lady next Christmas!

Lord, I need you to…

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10 (E S V)

And help me keep it that way!

Amen!