Holy Housekeeping

My husband is an avid fan of home renovation television programs. Today he asked me to humor him and watch a few episodes, so I did. We watched back-to-back episodes of the HGTV channel’s ‘Home Town,’ with hosts Ben and Erin Napier. Ben and Erin are natives of Laurel, Mississippi, and they have renovated over fifty homes in and around their modest hometown. Their labor of love is bringing the town back to life.  

Rooms are gutted to the studs and then the real fun begins of bringing the host’s vision to life. This is where I always get lost. I cannot see these elaborate ideas in my mind. My husband spent the first ten years of our marriage saying to me, “Picture this – so we knock out this wall and ……”  I would dutifully nod my head like I could “picture this,” but truth be told, nothing was happening in my brain. After a decade I sheepishly fessed up that he was wasting his time with me.

I say all this to tell you that I truly admire when people can come up with a vision for a home that has fallen into disarray and then make it shine again.

I asked my husband, “Why do you think these home renovation shows are so popular?”   He answered, “Because it’s like making lemonade out of lemons. Also, it’s really neat to watch how different people use their talents and see what they can create.”

I think we all love watching the transformation of chaos and disarray turned into order. It’s calming to our senses.  

I immediately went upstairs and cleaned our bedroom after the show was over.  HGTV should make that into a show and title it, “Cheapskate Renovate.”   I vacuumed under our bed, nearly being dragged into a deep dark abyss by an army of rabid dust bunnies. I dusted and reorganized my bookshelf, purged curios and clutter. I washed the walls. I put clean sheets on the bed and the comforter is almost ready to be taken out of the dryer. Our bedroom really needed a thorough cleaning and now the energy in the room is light and airy, not stagnant.

The Bible says that “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”  1^st Corinthians 14:33. The apostle Paul wrote those words as a rebuke for the church at Corinth, where the worship services were out of control, which would certainly not attract new believers.  Disorder is offensive to God.

God made the human body in all its precise intricacy. God made oceans and mountains, seas and stars. He designed all the beauty of our universe in six days and then declared that the seventh day was holy and to please rest and enjoy Him. I believe that people enjoy home renovation shows because they love watching the mess of man returned to God-ordained order.  

I like to think that housekeeping is a team effort between mankind and God, trading dust bunnies for His sweet peace.