Spring Cleaning 101

Way back in the late 1900’s, when our cubs still lived with us and I only thought I knew what tired felt like, I used to spring clean. Every April. I’d dedicate a whole day to each room, one day after the other, until I’d made my way from one end of our home to the other. And boy, did I have a system!

Step 1: Starting as early in the morning as possible, put supper in the crock pot and crank up some inspiring music. Find a garbage bag for discard items and a box for donations.

Step 2: Strip the room of everything you can carry. Pictures, lamps, books, ornaments—all go to a different room. Anything that can go through the washer—curtains, blankets, cushions, throw rugs—does, and then hangs on the clothesline the rest of the day.

Step 3: If the room includes cupboards, closets, or drawers, do those first, one at a time. Empty, clean, replace contents in a tidy fashion.

Step 4: Go around wiping down walls, windows, baseboards, light fixtures, furniture, and finally, the floor. At this point maybe rearrange furniture for something different.

Step 5: One by one, clean each item taken out of that room and return it to its place. Except, of course, discards and donations.

Step 6: Return the items from the clothesline to their rightful places. Haul out the trash and load the donation box into the car. Call it a day. Enjoy supper and a clean room. (Until the cubs tramp through with muddy feet … or squish a mosquito on the wall … or press noses up against windows.)

My system was ingenious, really. An effective cure for which there is no known disease.

Then the cubs left and found dens of their own. We moved. Springs began to come around faster and faster. One day I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I’d performed my annual ritual.

This year, with nowhere to go, I devised a plan to tackle the spring cleaning once again. I counted rooms and Saturdays. If I started in mid-February and devoted one Saturday to each room, I could finish by the May long weekend when it’ll be time to focus on garden and yard work. I even allowed myself two Saturdays for the kitchen.

By the end of my first Saturday, I’d finished four cupboards and felt like I’d lost a wrestling match with Mr. Clean. And that was with a nap. Twenty cupboards remained, not to mention the fridge and stove. At this rate, spring cleaning would take me all year. Granny warned me old age ain’t no place for sissies.

The next Saturday, I cleaned about half the remaining cupboards. I was never this stiff and sore at the end of my cleaning sessions back in the day.

The third Saturday, I finished the kitchen and vowed never to clean my oven—or any oven—again, as long as I live. SO not worth it. (By the way, “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is NOT from the Bible.)

I moved on to the bathroom the next Saturday and felt a bit less weary afterward. Do you think my stamina is increasing?

Last Saturday, I tackled the living/dining room. Since the furniture in that room is “one arrangement only,” I told hubby I’d love fresh flowers for the table and then said, “Oh, what a nice surprise!” when he brought some home.

If I survive the rest of my spring cleaning, I think I’ll create a new, one-step system: When the urge to clean surfaces, lie down until the urge goes away.

Psalm 51:10. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

 

 

Saying Grace, Part 2 of 2

 

In my online query about mealtime prayers, my friend Amanda told me of a time she served her kids a quinoa-based meal which was met with gross faces and complaints. As a joke, she made up this prayer on the fly and she and her kids have been saying it at lunch ever since:

“Thank you, Jesus, for this food,
Help us be kind, and not be rude.
Thanks for hands that help us eat,
Whoever complains can kiss my feet.”

Don’t you love it?

I learned that ethnicity plays a big role in our mealtime prayers. Two friends, both from a Dutch background, said they prayed before and after a meal. Before they ate, they’d say, “Lord bless this food and drink for Jesus’ sake, amen.” After the meal, it was, “Lord thank you for this food and drink for Jesus’ sake, amen.”

One person shared with me a cartoon where a little boy is asking his friend if his family prays before they eat. The other kid answers, “No. We’re Ukrainian. My mom knows how to cook.”

Several friends from a Mennonite background told me that praying aloud was not something they were taught to do, only silent prayers. When at family gatherings at her grandparents’ home, they prayed before and after the meal, also in silence. Dorothy told me, “I asked my mom why and what would the prayer be? She didn’t know. I guess it was one of those things you just did and didn’t ask any questions.”

Speaking of asking questions, I watched a movie recently where a character recited a familiar prayer: “For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly grateful.”

I’ve certainly heard that one before, but now it made me wonder something. The prayer implies that God has to make us grateful, as though gratitude is not a response we can choose for ourselves. If that were true, why would scripture instruct us, “In everything, give thanks?” (I Thessalonians 5:18) Not all our prayers carry the best theology.

When my children were preschoolers, our church ran a program called “LIFT” where women came together for a morning of activities, study, and prayer while their children attended their own program. My kids and I loved participating, but they came home singing a new prayer that really raised my eyebrows at first. Have you heard it?

“Oh, the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord; For giving me the things I need, the sun, and the rain, and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me.” The catchy tune made me smile, and I found no fault with the words. But where I’d been taught to pray in Jesus’ name, this prayer ended with, “Johnny Appleseed, Amen.”

I’m sure I gasped out loud the first time I heard the closer. What kind of heresy was this? I steered my children away from the “Johnny Appleseed” ending, though it was their favorite part. I was concerned the phrase would somehow offend God.

I wish I’d known then that God is not so easily offended. That he is far more concerned with the genuine condition of our hearts than by the precision of our words. That he basks in the songs of children. That he inhabits our praises, our gratitude, and our joy.

I think the most meaningful prayer sent my way came from Jocelyn who said it was often sung but sometimes spoken:

“For food in a world where many walk in hunger,
For faith in a world where many walk in fear,
For friends in a world where many walk alone,
We give you humble thanks, oh Lord.” 

To that I say, Amen!

What is your favorite meal-time prayer?

 

Saying Grace - Part 1 of 2

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Did you grow up in a home where a prayer was said before meals? In many homes, gathering around a table for a meal has become reserved for special occasions. The rest of the time, each member of the household operates on their own schedule, “grabbing food on the run.” The pandemic has increased the chances of families eating together and, hopefully, praying together as well.

In the home where I was raised, we took turns reciting from memory the same rhyming prayer at every meal: “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest. Let this food to us be blessed. Amen.” The prayer became something to rattle off before we could get down to the business of eating, and I determined that when I had my own spouse and kids, we would pray from the heart instead.

But guess what? While our mealtime prayers may have begun off-the-cuff, over time they all began to sound strangely rote, without the rhyme. Something along the lines of “Dear Jesus, thank you for this food. Please bless it to our bodies’ use. Amen.” Every. Single. Time.

I began to realize that just because a prayer doesn’t rhyme, it’s not automatically more meaningful. And just because it does, doesn’t mean it can’t be heartfelt. What’s going on inside makes all the difference.

I put out a query on social media, asking friends whether they grew up with mealtime prayers and how those prayers sounded. So many memories surfaced!

Turns out a lot of families prayed the same prayer as mine. One told me the poem is not even theologically sound. (I think they likely referred to the part about asking Jesus to “be our guest” when he is already everywhere, all the time.) Some added an additional line before the Amen: “By His hand we all are fed, thank you, God, for daily bread.” I like that because it acknowledges our source of provision and includes the element of gratitude missing in the shorter version.

When I started Grade One, our teacher, Mrs. Jenny Cooper, always led us in a prayer before we ate our lunch at our desks. “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Amen.” She pronounced “food” to rhyme with “good” which irritated me to no end as a sophisticated six-year-old. Now I marvel that we prayed in a public school at all.

My friend Iris prayed that one in her home as well, but they added this: “And with it, Lord,

Thy blessing give; Into Thy glory may we live.”

Iris’s family used another one which certainly covers the point of a mealtime prayer: “Lord, bless this food which now we take, and feed our souls with the bread of eternal life for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” I love how that one reflects Jesus’ words, “I am the bread of life.”

Some of my friends grew up praying the same prayer we did, but in German. I may be butchering the spelling, but does this bring memories to the surface for you? “Komm, Herr Jesus, sei Du unser Gast, und segne was Du uns bescheret hast.” Two or three friends shared that one, while another said just seeing it brought tears to her eyes, as she could almost hear her dad’s precious voice.

A couple of people told me they said these rote prayers for every day, but they got fancier and more eloquent when company came.

And let’s not forget the more irreverent offerings such as, “Good bread, good meat, good Lord, let’s eat!”

Or “Over the lips and past the gums, look out stomach, here she comes!”

Sounds more like a lesson on the digestive system than a prayer.

Next week we’ll take a look at more mealtime prayers and some good reasons to pray them.