My Mission Statement for a Clean Home

Day 1: Why Clean?

Today marked the beginning of the 31 Days to Clean homemaker's challenge.  I was asked to identify reasons why I want to have and maintain a clean home and then develop a mission statement based on these reasons.  Here are some of the main reasons why I want a clean home:

• To create an atmosphere of peace and order:  Having a cluttered, messy home really brings out the worst in me.  I feel frazzled, overwhelmed, and unable to function at my full potential when the house is a mess.  This is all magnified by the fact that we are at home a lot.  Therefore, I have to look at the mess and try and keep up with it all day long.  It is difficult to home school in a messy environment, so it is also important to have peace and order for that reason.  Needless to say, this is majorly important to me! 
• So that I can be more hospitable and not embarrassed to have company over:  I would really like to grow more in the area of hospitality, and not having to worry about a messy house would really free me up to invite more people over.  Also, it is not fun to clean like crazy before company comes and be so worried about the house that I don't enjoy the visit as much as I should.
• To bless my husband:  My dear husband has been very patient with me as I've stumbled along in my journey of keeping the home.  I am happy to say that I have made a lot of progress in the past 7+ years, but I have a long ways to go!  I would like to make our home a haven so that when my husband gets home from work he can relax instead of entering a home of chaos.  
• To model a good example of diligence to my children:  As a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom, I have a large influence on my children and I want to be a GOOD influence.  I do not want to model laziness, a complaining spirit, or disobedience to them.  Little eyes are watching and learning from me all day long, so I need to make the best of my time with them!  My mom was a great example to me and was always busy taking care of the needs of our family with a never-tiring, happy spirit.  I'm very blessed to have learned from her!
• To have more time for things I really enjoy, like playing with my kids and pursuing hobbies:  I'm not sure if this will ever change, but cleaning is not enjoyable to me.  It helps to remind myself that I am blessing my family by taking care of the home, but there are many other things I'd rather be doing!  Also, it would be nice to have a little more time for hobbies I enjoy: sewing, baking, reading, and beginning gardening.  I have also recently added birdwatching to my hobby list....haha, oh my I must be getting old! 

So here is my mission statement:

I purpose to faithfully and diligently maintain a clean home in order to create an atmosphere of peace and order, to encourage hospitality in our home, to bless my husband, to model a good example of diligence to my children, and to free up more time for things I enjoy doing.

I decided to make my mission statement pretty and print it out.  I taped it on the wall in my kitchen so that I can be reminded several times a day and stay motivated!  Here it is: