Remodeling - A Never Ending but Freeing Process

We are knee deep in remodeling AGAIN! I'm beginning to wonder if this process will ever end. We've torn apart our master bedroom and everything is out in the garage. I have to admit - going out to the garage to find what I am going to wear is totally not my style and way of doing things.

However, I've noticed a few things while everything is disarray in the garage.

1. There is so much that needs to GO. If we haven't worn it or used in months it's time to let someboby else enjoy it.

2. Many things need our attention -- to be cleaned, dusted, mended, or shined.

3. Amid all the clutter, it really is hard to see the special things we have.

4. And our bedroom - while empty - seems simply peaceful, and free.

Relating this to my spiritual life - I see the same benefits to cleaning "house" -- my inward self "God's house."

It is gut-wrenching to take time out of our busy lives and haul everything out of our inward self to take a good look at it, but once we do we realize there are things that need to go and things that need attention. While all those things clutter our hearts, it is hard to count our blessings. But yet, once we take the time to clear our spiritual house we soon feel God's peace and freedom!

Is it time for you to do some remodeling? If so, come join me on this freeing journey.

A Woman Inspired Special

What an incredible week! I've had the privilege to teach some incredible gals. It just amazes me how God works when He brings His women together!

I'm speaking at the A Woman Inspired Online Conference tomorrow afternoon at 2pm. They have asked me to speak on "Dirty Laundry!" Such a deep subject to talk about online where I can see no faces. (BTW - I like seeing your faces when I'm speaking and teaching!) But we are going to have some fun, despite the mounds of dirty laundry laying around.

To help anyone struggling with secrets of any kind I'm offering my book, Dirty Laundry Secrets ~ A Journey to Meet the Launderer, as an EBOOK this week for $5. You can pay by pay pal in the right hand column, leave your email, and the ebook will be sent to you within hours.

Also, I will be giving away three autographed copies of the book via random drawing. Comment on my blog, facebook, or the guest page on my web site and you are entered. Comment now - the drawing will be THIS Friday the 29th.

Are you wondering if you need this book? Well ask yourself . . .

Am I tired of hiding my "dirty laundry"?

Are my secrets getting harder to conceal?

Am I ready to be free from lies, hurts and guilt?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Each of the seven light-hearted lessons in Dirty Laundry Secrets are designed to free you from the worries you lug around.

You will come to experience peace, as Christ gently releases the burdens of life and gives you a refreshing, clean outlook starting today. You will enjoy this fresh look at how much you can learn from your laundry. Come splash around in God's sudsy grace as you make this seven-week journey to know the Launderer.

There are day-by-day lessons that can be completed in 15-20 minutes. This study is full of practical self-tests, check lists and how-to's that will free you from your dirty laundry.

Can't wait to hear from you amazing gals!!

This Ain't Your Daddy's Hard Hat

I remember wearing my Daddy’s hard hat when I was very young. It was heavy, dusty, dirty, and smelly. As I was looking for a hard hat to use for a prop in a speech to symbolize the fixin’ up I needed to do, I was amazed. (Order I'm a Fixer-Upper here.)

I figured they were expensive. I mean if something is to protect your head (Like your brain is important, right?) you would think it would cost quite a bit. After asking around to borrow hard hats, a friend phoned and said he was in Lowe’s and I could buy one for just . . . $7. What? I just knew I had heard him wrong. Then he said, “Alene, they even have different colors?” WOW!

Hubby and I rushed down to Lowe’s, as I was envisioning how awesome a pink hard hat would be. I didn’t want to miss this bargain – JUST $7. Plus, being the girly-girl that I am, I had to have hubby with me for fear of me walking in there and looking like a deer in the headlights. We made our way to the hard hats. Yep – they were only $7. Hubs picked one up and handed it to me. It was so light and seemed so fragile.

Where was that thick, heavy, hard hat my daddy use to wear?

I have to say, I was impressed. My friend was right, Lowe’s did have different colors to choose from. There was your standard white, yellow and even neon green. I sat there staring. Pondering. Wondering what to do. NONE of those were my colors – Hello???? Where are the pink ones?

It’s been a hoot learning about hard hats this week. Who would have ever thought this girl would even care about hard hats?

What I have learned is . . . If I can’t have Daddy’s white, heavy, greasy, and musty, old, hard hat, then by George - - -

I want a PINK one!!!

The Fish are Happy

Things have been so crazy around here that our poor aquariums did not get their biweekly cleaning. Don’t ask me when they were last cleaned, because I couldn’t tell you!

I did notice that the fish seemed lethargic, sluggish and sad the more deprived and neglected their living environment became. I can actually say the same about myself. The more disorderly, disarrayed, and dysfunctional my living quarters become the more it negatively influences the rest of my life.

Maybe you notice the same in your spiritual life – the more apathetic, withdrawn and callous you become about your spiritual being the more it negatively influences the rest of your life.

My fish taught me that clean and orderly environments do make a huge difference to our outlook on life. Let’s make this Monday the day we clean up our aquariums, homes and spiritual lives so we’ll have brighter outlooks on life. A clean spiritual home will help us be energetic, peaceful, and perky!

Who knew there were amazing lessons waiting to be learned from fish!

It's A Girl Thing!

It’s a mom thing too! I was honored to teach a breakout at the It’s a Girl Thing conference for moms. I was blown away by the enthusiasm of the staff and workers, but especially by the moms and daughters.


It was certainly confirmed – communication (or lack thereof) between moms and teens is a daily challenge in every home. I led a breakout session, “The Secret – Do Your Wash then Communicate”. Not knowing what to expect, I was blown away.


In the first session, moms piled in the room. We had moms sitting in desks, on the floor, and lining the walls. Definitely the word communication is what brought them to the session. Our hour together was wonderful. We talked about letting go of our own past so that bitterness or anger doesn’t influence the way we relate and communicate with our own children. Only through cleansing ourselves first, would we truly then be able to be there for our teens.


As tears poured moms shared, asked questions, and I believe found comfort in each other.The longing these moms had to have great relationships with their children was incredible. I wish I did have the “secret fix” for the moms there. I remember when my kids were younger, I would go to conferences and look for the ONE THING I could do to have total transformation the minute I got back home. I wanted to know how to FIX EVERYONE!

Oh how I wish miracles happened the instant we walk through a door. I wish the moms would have had total breakthrough on the home front the minute they walked back in their door, but we know that’s not the case. Having great communication and relationships is a process. The first thing I had to learn was that I had to FIX ME FIRST! Our process and journey will always begin with ourselves first. Through our breakout session, God strengthened moms and reassured them they are not alone on this journey. It might be a process, but with diligence, love, and God guiding them they will make it.

This week I am sharing with another groups of moms. I look forward to speaking to the Motherly Love group in Brenham. The leader of this group is a mom I always looked up to when I was raising little ones. I looked to her children and saw what I wanted in mine. This dear friend has been a great example.

Being a mom is such a blessing, but yet the hardest job ever! I am blessed by my family and the relationships I have with my children. It’s been hard work, but so worth ever tear shed. Yes, hard work.


BTW – daily communication with God is the secret. That is when He washes us, cleanses us, and gives us a fresh spirit for the day.

Let God wash you first, cleanse you, heal you, and refresh you - then try communicating with those you love.


It's amazing what a little washing can do.

Facial Blemishes and God

The past couple of weeks have been extremely stressful. Pressures and worries have built up on every front of my little world. Don’t you just love the saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Such is life.

However, it’s one thing to feel the pressures on the inside, but when they start popping to the outside through facial blemishes – ooooh, that’s not so good. I was experiencing such the ugly phenomenon. Stress pimples. Urgh!

Thankfully, I’ve had years of skin care training as I use to teach classes. I knew how to handle this. I babied my skin, made sure I was following ever step properly, and making sure my face was clean at all times. But these stubborn pimples were NOT budging. They were not even shrinking!

In desperate need of relief (I was fixing to be in front of a bunch of women), I borrowed a different cleanser from a friend. My goodness, I think this made the problem worse. If you know about skin care, you know any change in skin care products can make the situation worse at first. What was I thinking?

But I was still in DESPERATE need to be cleansed and free of these blemishes. Time was running out, so I went to the local supermarket and bought some super-duper heavy-duty acne free cleanser and toner.

Forget being gentle! I was going to scrub these bumps off. I cleansed as harshly as I could and decided to just douse my face in the toner. In my half-crazed mind I thought, that should do it.

By the next day, my face was on fire. By evening my skin felt like leather. I had fried my face trying to get rid of the blemishes. As the days went by, my face began to peel. It was horrible!

NOTE: DO NOT EVER TRY THIS! Stick with your normal cleansing routine.

What I learned about God and life from this experience: (I've had a lot of thinking time as I was hiding out.)

We all have blemishes and/or sins – they just seem bigger when they are ours.
We can try to hide our blemishes – however, we know they are still there.
We try drastic measures to feel cleansed – alcohol, drugs, money, relationships.
Using the wrong product for cleansing does make the blemish worse.
God is the only cleanser who will alleviate all blemishes.
Our responsibility is to come to HIM for cleansing – daily.
God’s cleansing program might not seem like it is working – but it is.
Cleansing is a process.


Amazing you can learn from your blemishes.

Paper Mate

I have been fretting the day my FAVORITE pen runs out of ink. It’s the last pen I have and PaperMate doesn’t make them anymore.

But today I can breathe a little easier for awhile. I was cleaning out a closet. Gasp-I know! There it was buried deep DEEP down in a basket full of old cards.

Should I treasure this last pen, set it on a shelf or use it?

What good is a gift if it just sets on a shelf?

God might ask us the same thing. Remember the servants who were entrusted with gifts/talents?

The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'

The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. Matthew 25:24-27 The Message

Seriously, I am so thrilled. Although, this is the last of my favorite pens (barring any more closet cleaning and awesome surprises) I will use this ink. I will use it wisely.

Yes, PaperMate medium point pens are my fav! I’ve realized I’m just as picky about my pens as I am my journals.

PaperMate doesn’t even make this pen anymore. I don’t want the new Erasermate or Write Bros. NO! I WANT THE PLAIN JANE PAPERMATE!!!

Amazing, there is always something to be said about an original. There’s none like it!

If you happen to see this original anywhere PLEASE let me know.

Housekeeping

I’ve put off cleaning up my sons room since he moved out for college. Seriously, here’s proof. Everything piled on top of his bed and that’s how it has been for months. (showing off my housekeeping skills, eeks!) Please somebody tell me they can relate!!

I’ve procrastinated because cleaning meant I had to deal with the reality that he is growing up. Every time I'd walk in his room, I'd notice the markings outside his closet door where he marked his growth. For years he felt like he’d never grow tall like his friends. (Sorry, I had to record this for me - the sappy sentimental mom.) Look how much he grew in 2004. I swear most of that happened the week he was at camp.













Finally, last weekend was different. The rooms mess had to go. It had to be cleaned.

Enough was enough.

Hubby and I had a big date to Home Depot – woo hoo! Do you hear a little sarcasm in my voice? OOps - so sorry! However, hubs had to work that night so Linds and I got busy. We were fortunate our neighbor came over and decided to help. Then about 30 minutes into the job, some special friends called and invited us all to "On the Border". So, we took a break and went. Now, that's the way I like to work.

When we came back to reality and got busy painting, neighbor was fixing to paint over the markings on the door and she stopped.

“Alene, are you sure you want me to paint over these? Look at them!”

Me – sad and teary eyes, “No, but we need to. I took pictures earlier.”

While my daughter is cracking up laughing, I was choking back tears! Neighbor slowly (it seemed like the slowest slow-mo ever!) and ever so methodically rolled Pottery Red paint (or Barnyard Red as Linds calls it) over those cute, adorable, filty, and priceless markings.

Right there - in the moment - precious memories covered up by a layer of paint.

Once I got over the shock, I (the girls found other fun things to do - imagine that?) got busy. It actually took me all weekend, but check it out! (I swear the walls match - bad photography - I do much better on people! ha)

These three guitars are so special. The one on the right was my daddy’s guitar. In the middle we have my son’s first guitar. (the guitar was as big as he was when he first started playing) And on the left side is my first guitar.

Ah yes, a clean room ready and waiting for my son to move back in to. Actually, there’s not much chance of that happening. He loves where he is. I love where he is too . . . growing up with such a passion for the Lord.

So, we have a room for visitors now. You want to come over?

Amazingly, if you come quickly the room might still be clean.

Should I Be Offended

After a glo-o-ri-ious weekend with many girlfriends from all over the city, my body has had a come-apart!

I woke up at 5:30am Monday to begin my prayer time and by 7am I was SO sick! I have come down with the stomach flu! Just in case you’re wondering – this is NOT fun. I’m not very good at doing things that aren’t fun. Ha

Each evening as hubby and my daughter tuck me in they insist we need to spray the house with Lysol Disinfectant. Hmmm? Don’t you think that’s a little rude?

I’m not sure whether I should be amazed that they are trying to protect themselves from my viruses or just plain offended.

What do you think?

Sshh – don’t tell them, I’ve been spraying myself with the stuff hoping to get well sooner!

The Picture Speaks

I’m being overtaken with piles of unorganized messes. Here’s a picture worth many words. As you can tell from the chaos on one corner of my desk I have books to return, books to lend, notes to send, papers to throw away, lessons to prepare, lists of magazines to send articles, school papers to file, books to study and handwritten notes to put on a calendar. There are many good intentions scribbled on note cards that are left undone.

Peter F. Drucker once said, “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

As you can imagine with this clutter overtaking me, I can’t think. You could say I’m easily confused when things are jumbled up! I don’t know the best place to start to turn these “intentions” into actions.

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie-the-Pooh

So, I am taking a week off from blogging to catch up on what needs to be straightened up, cleaned up and organized here. I can not muddle around in this untidiness any longer.

I’m amazed at how quickly I'm overtaken with disorder if I don’t stay on top of it.

During my week off I’ll be painting a new picture – one of order, organization, and cleanliness!

If you have organizational or cleaning tips I’d love to hear them. Yes, please! Actually, it would be of great encouragement to me.

Spring Cleaning 101

It’s that time of year again – Spring – and I’m loving it. Spring ushers in such a newness and freshness to the year. The cool, crisp mornings are awesome. The air beckons you to breathe deeper, slow down and clean. Oops, did I say clean? I thought spring cleaning was something my mother invented, but no it has a history all its own.

Online Definition: Spring cleaning is the period in spring when time is set aside for cleaning a house. The most common usage of spring cleaning refers to the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom which would take place in the first warm days of the year typically in spring, hence the name. However it has also come to be synonymous with any kind of heavy duty cleaning or organizing enterprise. A person who gets their affairs in order before an audit or inspection could be said to be doing some spring cleaning.

One possible origin: Spring cleaning can be traced to the ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in anticipation of the spring-time holiday of Passover. During this eight-day holiday there was a strict prohibition against eating anything which may have been leavened. Therefore, observant Jews conduct a thorough cleaning of the house, followed by a traditional hunt for chametz (leavened food stuff).

I’m learning there is so much more to spring cleaning than I ever imagined. I’ve been called to a strict cleaning season this year to get my affairs in order, to rid my home of dirt, and to conduct a thorough clean-up of all that lies around my home that is forbidden. Yes, this will take some serious and organized efforts. My home, my heart and God’s temple are in need of a serious sweeping, dusting and polishing.

This spring I’ll be hanging out in the temple. Actually, I’ll be tackling the temple. It will certainly be a Spring Cleaning 101 class. I have so much to learn about the temple, my heart and my home. One thing is for sure – a cleaning has begun. Spring Cleaning! Believe it or not, I’m not growling! I’m enthusiastically enthralled.

Psalm 69:9 has captivated me, “Passion for your house has consumed me.”

Today, I have a renewed passion for His house, a temple to sweep, and a home to clean. Girls, I’m in dire need of some cleaning suggestions. Care to share?