Spring is in the air. The birds are singing and the woods around my house get greener every day. I love spring and the renewal of beauty and life that comes with it. I even enjoy the opportunity to do some spring cleaning around the house. For so many of us, spring cleaning has become a tradition that gets passed from one generation to the next. Many people believe that the tradition began centuries ago with the early celebrations of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The Israelites were commanded to get every bit of leaven out of their homes or face severe consequences. This process would have required extensive cleaning, just as it does today; and it would need to be repeated each spring in preparation for those feasts.
Many cultures have recorded information describing the spring rituals of their ancestors. Interestingly, some of these cultures also had a large Jewish population that had been absorbed into their native population.
Regardless of where spring cleaning got its origins, it is a very real and needed part of life today. As the days become longer, our bodies produce less melatonin and our energy levels increase. Usually this happens as the weather gradually gets warmer. This makes it a great time to open the windows and let the gentle spring breezes chase the stale stuffiness of winter out and fill our homes with fresh air. It’s a great time to shake out the rugs, go through things and get rid of the clutter, wash comforters and hang them out to dry, and all those other little jobs that winter weather prevented.
It’s Time to Declutter
As a homeschooling mother, I find that it’s a great time to de-clutter in other ways as well. Spring always brings a time of reflection with it. I spend lots of mental energy evaluating what worked well and what didn’t in our homeschool and in our lives. I ask the Father to show me the progress we’ve made and what areas need more concentrated focus. I go through my books to see what needs to be saved and what needs to be sold. I try to identify those curriculum choices that sit, unused, on the shelf and make me feel guilty that I haven’t used them. Hopefully, you don’t have any of those that seem to call your name and remind you that you spent money on them, but haven’t ever used them. I try to decide to either use them or get rid of them so that I don’t have be bothered by them anymore.
Regardless of where you spend your energies performing spring cleaning duties, inside or out, physically, spiritually, or mentally, there seems to be a common thread. It is time to clean out the old, the stale, and the lifeless areas and replace them with the new, the fresh and the life giving alternatives. It’s time to make changes in our lives that reflect the renewing beauty of nature that blossoms every spring. I hope your spring bursts forth with abundant life and your cup runs over with renewed joy.
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