Just think, after tomorrow all this talk about the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle will go away (for some of you, you’re all, “Thank goodness!”).

But for others, it is a gift to be able to get so many wonderful eBooks for WAY cheaper than if you were to buy them all, or even a quarter of them. The thing is, sometimes spending even $30 is too much. I so get that, I’ve been there. So how about a giveaway?

Today you can enter to win the whole shebang – the complete 97 eBook bundle (worth $640)!  Even happier news? I’m going to pick 10 winners.

TEN WINNERS!

All you have to do is enter below! The giveaway ends tomorrow (Saturday) at 5pm EST.

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(Email readers, CLICK HERE to come to the blog and enter!)

Want to see all the eBooks in the bundle? Just click HERE!

Love, SM

P.S. Today (Saturday) is the last day to get these eBooks together for over 90% off. Sale ends at 11:59 pm EST. *UPDATE* The sale is now over.

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The Armor of God $2.50

It was a gift to find this eBook in the homemaking bundle collection because I have been thinking through how I want to teach my son about the armor of God. Even though he is only six, he is already dealing with the awakenings of the male mind. I have some ideas of what I want to do to instill in him integrity, honor, and a respect towards ladies, and this eBook is a great start!

Because he’s only six, we’re going to skip over the copy work portion of this eBook (it’s more suited towards a first grader and up), but I’ll definitely start on the discussion questions (“What kind of king would you be? How would you rule your kingdom?”), the memory game, the coloring page, and the Design Your Own Sword. We’ll be digging into this study ASAP!

Write Through the Bible $5

I love this workbook! My 7 year old is just about finished with her Spelling book, and instead of moving on to the next book during the summer, I’m going to have her work through this writing guide.

It goes through a cycle of copy work, vocabulary, and dictation. The goal is that when finished (it’s a full school year’s worth of writing), your child will have memorized Philippians 2:1-18 (ESV), and have better handwriting! I’m really looking forward to trying this with my girl!

Raising Rockstars Kindergarten $10

I mean really, score. Carisa‘s curriculum’s are amazing. AMAZING. She is a gift to the blogosphere for any parent who is looking for great learning resources for their babes. I’ll be doing this one with my son over the summer and the preschool version with my 4 year old.

ABC’s for Godly Girls & Boys $8 each

The reason I like this Bible Curriculum is because of the flash cards. Take a look…

I’m going to fire up my laminator and use the girl flash cards with Ella (the 7 year old). To me, the $8 is well worth these colorful scripture cards, even though there is so much more to the curriculum! Each lesson in the eBook includes a character trait (A is for attitude) , a primary Bible verse, a bonus verse, a key Bible character, a lesson, an activity idea, and a craft idea. This could be used for some great one-on-one time with your babes.

4 Moms of 35 Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions $7.99

I mean HELLO! I LOVE hearing from older, wiser women who have gone before me in raising children. And a Q & A format to boot? Perfect, in my opinion. For each question, each mom gives an answer of what her family has done (so there are different opinions/ideas, not a formalistic approach). Brilliant I tell you. Here are some of the questions:

How do you keep things fair for all your children?

How do you teach your children to do chores?

How do you teach your children about the birds and the bees?

And SO many more! This is a wonderful resource for any mama!

The Rhythm of Rest 2.99

Why did I add this eBook? Because I’M A MOM. And, you know, I tend to not “honor” rest. Also, what does “honoring rest” even mean??

I just love Danielle’s spirit, and this eBook is a lovely offering for the mama (or any woman) who could use some practice in what it means to honor the rhythm of rest. This eBook includes Danielle’s stories, tips, and “Take a Breathe” journaling exercises to help you enter the Rest.

 …

Now tell me, what are some of your favorite eBooks on parenting and/or education?

Love, SM

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Are you ready for some real southern sweet tea?! Oh yea, it’s sweet alright…this recipe is straight from a southern granny’s recipe!

Here is what you’ll need:

6 regular tea bags

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 cups sugar (or 2 cups if you’re really southern)

6 cups cold water

Notice the Luzianne tea – it MUST be Luzianne people!

Here’s what to do:

1. In a large glass measuring cup, place the tea bags and add the baking soda.

6. Add in the cold water and serve over ice.

Sooooooooooooooo……….. refreshing!

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“I will never change”

“My husband would be happier with a woman who cleaned all the time”

“I hate cleaning, and I hate that I’m not the cleaning type”

I put so much stock into how well and how often I cleaned (which wasn’t well or often), and I constantly felt like a failure. I wanted to be a “good” homemaker; I wanted to make my husband proud.

It’s been nine years since I’ve been married and keeping a home, and I’m still the same old non-cleaner woman. However, I have learned a few things, and I’d like to share them with my younger self…and all the non-cleaners of the world who struggle with feelings of failure.

Dear Younger Self:

Your identity is not in how well or how often you clean.

The sum of who you are is not in your ability to keep the dishes off the counter and the laundry put away. You are no less or no better in God’s eyes because of how you clean. When you are His, you are beautiful and perfect because of Jesus, right now, right where you are. We submit to the Holy Spirit as He molds and changes us to be more like Jesus, and we are His, but according to eternity, we are already complete.

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

Your identity is not in what your husband or anyone else thinks of you.

I used to believe the lie that my husband would be better off with someone who was a good cleaner. I was in so much bondage due to this lie; I felt worthless. The truth is, my husband would love it if I cleaned more/better, but he loves me and is committed to me for life. He accepts my purple boots, my sparkly grey nail polish (can a grown woman wear sparkly grey nail polish? Yes!), my driven personality, and my complete lack of Martha Stewart DNA. I care what he thinks because I love him and respect him, but we also respect each other as we grow and become. The thing is, even if my husband thought I was worthless or stupid or whatever because I didn’t clean up to a particular standard, it wouldn’t really matter because he doesn’t have the authority to tell me who I am. That authority is reserved for the throne of grace alone.

Only Jesus has the authority to tell me who I am.

You are not a slave to your personality.

I’ve got news for you love, the excuse “this is just who I am, accept it” is a selfish excuse and not fit for a woman who longs to be like Jesus. When I claim “this is me, deal with it!” I am not claiming the humility or servanthood of the One who died for all my ugly. No, that’s not the way of the cross. The way of the cross is to submit our personalities and our bents and all of the things that make us who we are, to Jesus. All of who we are is for His glory.

If you are a non-cleaner type like myself, that’s okay to know that you will never have the Martha Stewart way about you. God doesn’t love you any more or any less because of your bents. However, He does ask us to obey, to be diligent, and to be like Jesus. And so, we lay ourselves low and follow the Way.

You can choose to love well through keeping your home.

I know you don’t like to clean, you find it boring and you’d rather do almost anything else. But listen, you can love others well by creating a place of peace and beauty for those around you. You can love yourself well by taking care of your domain and giving life to it. We can create beauty out of ashes; peace out of chaos. It is kingdom work, eternal work, because love is eternal. Look at cleaning as an act of love towards yourself and those around you; Look at is as an act of worship to your God.

There is an ebb and flow of life that you will settle into.

I think the best part of being married for nine years, having children, and keeping my home is that I now understand more of who I am and that life undulates as I swim through it. I know the ups and downs, and I know that there are times of great consistency, great upheaval, and great peace. I have learned to be content with the ebb and flow of life. I know I’ll never be the go go go type of cleaner, but I also know I will care for my domain and the people in it. I will choose to maintain my home, push back on the Genesis curse, and persevere in order to love well.

It’s a good place to be when you find peace; when you accept who you are, when you quit striving, and when you give yourself to the Potter. It’s the sweet spot.

Today’s Challenges

Mary Challenge: Mediate on Hebrews 10:14. Ask God for revelation on what it means for you to be complete/perfect inChrist.

Martha Challenge: Let’s get started on the kitchen. Pick five tasks you’d like to accomplish this week – make the reasonable according to your limitations. Do one of those tasks today.

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“Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.” Colossians 3:23-25 (The Message)

I look at this series and the eBook (and future book) and think, “what am I doing? I don’t like to clean, and I don’t want to be known as the blogging/book cleaning woman.”

Writing about cleaning is a challenge for me. It’s not deep or interesting. It’s not me.

And yet.

Yet cleaning is a practical part of this life, and all of life is worship, and in the cleaning there is worship as well. It seems I’m called to write about the mundane, and how we bring life to it and make it deep and interesting. How we can live fully where we break up fights and do the dishes and keep clean clothes out of the laundry basket.

Where we find our way in this mother-skin; in the domestic. Where we keep ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time, all for Him.

Where we choose the life we have.

Where we live…and clean.

Today’s Challenges

Mary Challenge: Are you coveting another life? Are you struggling with joy where you’re at? What’s getting in the way of you being content with where you’re at in life? Think about these things and then get on your knees and offer these “blocks” to God.

Martha Challenge: I know we’re going into the weekend, but push through! Set your timer for 15 minutes and see how much cleaning you can get done in your dining room!

How are you choosing to live, right where you are?

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Don’t be afraid to get your babes involved, Oreos are yummy!

Good morning!

I’m going to make this short and sweet (emphasis on the sweet): today I’m going to do a live clean AND I have a giveaway for you!

First up is the live clean. It will be today at 10am EST. You can tune in right here at my blog, so just come on back at 10! I’ll be cleaning out my dining room buffet drawers…can’t wait to see what treasures I find!

The giveaway today is Cravings, the Devotional. “Cravings is a collection of card-size devotionals based on the Psalms. They are written to help mothers develop their relationship with God in the midst of motherhood. Each card contains a scripture for the day, a “thoughtlet,” and an action idea. As moms crave the sweet morsels from God’s Word, they can draw a card from a delectable Cravings holder—a pink cupcake!—that also displays the daily card for hands-free viewing.”

Three of you will win one!

Read more about these sweet devotions here!

You will be able to enter the giveaway using the form below (if you get this in your email, click here and scroll down to find the form).

Todays Challenges!

Mary Challenge: How is your heart today? You doing okay? Where do you need the most encouragement? Would you let me know in the comments?

Martha Challenge: Dining room time! What task do you need to get done in your dining room? Pick one that fits your time schedule today and get it done (or get it started)! I’m going to clean out my buffet, and I hope you’ll join me in the live clean and clean along with me!

Have a beautiful day!

P.S. How much laundry did you get done yesterday?

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Are your clothes wrinkled from sitting in the basket after coming out of the dryer? Do you have a hard time getting your clothes from the basket to the closet and drawers? Has your laundry basket become the go-to place for clean clothes?

If so, my friend, you may be suffering from what I call LBS – Laundry Basket Syndrome.

And girl, you’ve got to get a hold of this problem and nip it in the bud!

I know, because this is what I do. I put the laundry in, get it clean and dry, and then I put it in the laundry basket saying, “I’ll get that later.” But I never do. A few days go by and we’re living out of the laundry basket, but the shirt I want to wear is wrinkled. Since I don’t like to iron, I just find something else and the cycle continues. I usually just end up washing all the clothes again because they get dumped out and I don’t know what’s clean or dirty anymore.

Clearly, this is a super bad habit, and I’d really like to quit it. I want to kick LBS to the curb! How about you?

If so, read on…

Today’s Challenges

Mary Challenge: Read Galatians 6:9 – what is the reward for persevering? As you’re doing laundry today, think about this verse.

Martha Challenge: See how many loads of laundry you can do today, but do not move on to the next load until the first is put away!

What is your biggest laundry challenge?

…

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She means business, folks!

As many of you know, my sister is in town for a couple of weeks. What you may not know is that she happens to be a tornado.

My sister arrived on Wednesday, and by Saturday the house was wrecked. We’d been too busy talking, making my brother watch Jurassic  Park (he’s 23 and he’d never seen it!) and driving all over the land doing fun things together. I knew I’d have to get my home in order before Sunday or my husband would feel terrible trying to relax in a chaotic environment. I also knew that I’d put off the cleaning until the last possible minute because I’m somewhat allergic to cleaning.

But I had to get the house in order. In was already Saturday evening, so I went out to get the babes a movie so I could just focus on cleaning. When I got home, I walked into a tornado, a cleaning tornado.

Now mind you, I am like a butterfly. I flit around from thing to thing, getting something done here and then there, getting caught up in distraction and flowing along with the breeze. I take my time when I clean, or in other words, I’m slow (my sister couldn’t believe it took me 45 minutes to clean my girls bedroom).

Really slow.

I like to listen to music and look through the things I’m cleaning, ponder for a bit, remember I have to answer an email, think about that shirt I want to wash, and oh yea, I need to get a new one of those the next time I’m out. Wouldn’t the pillows be prettier if I arranged like them this, yes. Okay, now where was I? The dishes, right…

Writing this post is kind of how I clean. I’m already distracted and need to get back to the story at hand. Where was I?

Ah yes, my sister, the tornado.

So I come home, walk into the kitchen and see that it’s clean (first of all, let’s just take a pause here and say a little “hallelujah“ because I didn’t have to clean it.)

She’s in there whipping those pans into shape. “Wow, you’re fast” I say, “I’ve only been gone for 10 minutes”. She begins to clear the dining room table, scrub it clean, pick up trash, and tell my kids what they need to do to help – no movie until the house is clean. I’m just standing there, watching, and she says, “if you just work fast and get it done, then you’ll have time to do the things you want to do.”

Just like that, matter of fact.

Just do it. And do it fast.

Before I knew it, I was running around cleaning, and so were my children! We all became cleaning tornados and within 15 minutes the upstairs main spaces were clean.

How to Be a Cleaning Tornado

Give Yourself a Challenge and Do It in a Set Amount of Time

There is something about a challenge and a time limit that makes you focus and move. It is incredibly effective to go into cleaning mode and just do the work as fast as you can. One of the inspirations I have is from this 31 Days to Clean Mamas of Little Ones Facebook group. They give each other challenges and you have to do them within a set time frame. They hustle and do whatever they can in that 10 or 15 minutes span of time, and then they encourage one another and do proverbial high-fives before moving on with their day. Which brings me to this…

Don’t Clean Alone

The women in the group above live all over the U.S. and yet they clean together and encourage each other daily. They’ve been doing this for about a year now. These women have not only come up with a system (Task #1,2,3,4), but they jump on when they have the time and just ask, “anyone up for a challenge?” Within a few minutes someone else jumps on and they pick a task and go for it, together even though they are miles a part. I love it. Here are some of the quotes I’ve seen in the group:

“ I am SO THANKFUL to have ladies to work with today! I need to encouragement and motivation!”

“Ok lovely ladies! onto #1!!! WE can do this!!!”

“BREAK!! What did you get done so far?” “I got started on the kitchen and took a phone call from my doctor…. Second half will be stronger!” “I got all the dirty laundry moved to the laundry room, sorted, and a load started, and I exercised for 10 min!” 

This reminds me, live cleaning on Wednesday! Stay tuned for details!

Get Hyper-Focused

If I have to clean fast, I’v got to get focused. No music, no organizing, no emails, no nothing. Just hone in on the task at hand and go, go, go! I see my sister do this and it works wonders! Once I finish the task at hand, then I can listen to my music and slow clean or organize something else that doesn’t take priority.

Get the Babes Involved

It’s amazing what a child can do when there is a clear focus about attaining a goal together, quickly. I couldn’t believe all that my children got done as my sister was no-nonsense. They had no option but to clean, and so clean they did! I get too slack about making the children help me, I either move to slow myself which doesn’t motivate them, or I get upset that they are not cleaning fast enough…they get distracted so easily (hmmm…wonder where that comes from?)

Watching my sister, it helped me to realize that I just need to say, “okay loves, we’re a family, a team, and we’re going to get this done in this amount of time and then we can play.” I find that when I give my children specific, age-appropriate tasks, they do the work. It also helps if they know they have a reward when they’re done: they can play, go outside, watch a movie, get a treat, etc.

Your Turn

What are your best cleaning tips when it comes to getting the job done fast?

Today’s Challenges

Mary Challenge: Practice focusing. Pick one verse and take about 10 minutes to focus on it alone. Let it roll through your mind, let it marinate, and ask God to speak to you through it. See if you can set it to memory by just meditating on it.

Martha Challenge: Give yourself a 15 minute challenge. Pick something that needs done in your house, perhaps just a main space clean, and set your time for 15 minutes and get all hyper-focused and get as much done in that time frame as you can. See if you can get your babes to help as well!

If you want to find a 31 Days to Clean Facebook group, look here.

Happy cleaning!

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If I don’t serve, I surrender.

I don’t want to clean, I don’t even really want to write about cleaning because cleaning, in and of itself, is boring to me. I’d rather do just about anything else other than clean. And when I think too much about all the cleaning I have to do, I surrender into an overwhelmed, selfish little hermit who just wants to curl up and pretend she doesn’t see the mess.

But

If I remember why I’m cleaning, if I remember how my God chose love through sacrifice, than I can climb out of that pit and choose to serve. The story below is a beautiful picture of a mother who chose to serve her child and sacrifice her own needs first in order to love her daughter well:

Finally, at 10:00, thinking about falling into bed just to stay alive, did I say, beyond weary to the bone, if possible,

when I passed Joy’s bedroom. (She was out at her very last speech party, with friends and comrades.)

Piles everywhere–strewn clothes on chairs, floor; shoes, speech ballots and paper all over the floor, dirty tea cups, plates with crumbs in them, and unmade bed with stuff here and there…….an overall mess…….

She was not being irresponsible, she had given her all–practicing, writing, dressing, running from room for room for giving over 30 speeches, adrenalin spilled, energy expended. Her bedroom was a reflection of our weeks.

If I were her, I would not want to come home to such a mess.

I know what it is like to return from conference weekends to a messy bedroom when you are beyond tired. It oppresses one to think of more work and more effort……

And so with one last weary push, I hung clothes, stacked papers into neat piles, picked up all the dishes, folded her sheets and covers into a straight and welcome turn down for needed sleep, placed shoes in the closet, picked up random things off the floor and placed beloved stuffed animals in the proper place of old, when she as a child loved their welcome.

When she returned at midnight, she would see love all over her bedroom, a little more ordered place, where rest would come more easily, because I needed to do unto her as I would have her do unto me–if I had been so weary and in need of an angel to straighten my room.

Please read the whole post over at Sally’s blog, I Take Joy.

Isn’t that just it? A losing of ourselves to love others. Yes.

I want to be that, I want to be the woman who loses herself in Jesus, who lays down her life to give life to others.

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Good morning sleepy heads, we’re going to clean your bedroom today!

It’s summer (nearly) and the last thing I want to do is stay inside on these beautiful days.

Not to mention the fact that my kids are ready to hit the dirt the minute they get up. How am I supposed to get any heavy cleaning done in the summer? And it’s not just finding the time, it’s finding the motivation. I want to be out and about on these inviting days, not stuck cleaning out my cabinets. I know many of you are feeling the same way.

So what are we to do?

Well, we first need to keep our “why” at the forefront, because that will help to keep us going. The second thing is that love doesn’t choose seasons, and so if we are going to love well by keeping a place of order and peace, we need to maintain that even in the summer (however, next go-round we’ll do the heavy cleaning before summer!). The third thing? We need to choose our own tasks. What I mean is, instead of telling you what to do, I’m going to let you choose your tasks for each section of the home we work on, but I’ll share mine just in case you want to use what I’m doing as a guide. This week, for example, we’re cleaning the other bedrooms in our homes. I asked you to pick five tasks you could reasonably do this week to get those bedrooms in order. For some of you, that will mean an entire overall and “spring” clean of all the kids rooms and/or guest bedrooms. For others, this might mean catching up on the laundry, putting clothes away, making the beds, and finding a new system to keep toys at bay. We’re all in different places, so our needs are going to be vastly different, as well as our capacities.

My capacity is pretty limited right now. My sister is coming in town on Wednesday (squee!) and she’s bringing her one year old (translation: “I walk now so watch out I’m going to get into everything. Bwhahahahahaha!) and her dog, a chihuahua. She’ll be here for two weeks, and so I’m going to give myself a break and work slowly through my cleaning tasks instead of spending hours a day on them.

Which reminds me, I’m going to have a live clean where you can clean along with me! I tried this the other day and it was really fun, until I realized that I had the broadcast locked AND I forgot to record it. Yea, I botched it. But this time, I know what I’m doing! Keep an eye on my FB page and I’ll let you know when the live cleaning will begin (probably this afternoon).

Okay, let’s get on with the day!

Mary Challenge: Be realistic with your limitations and set reasonable goals, especially if you have little ones. In fact, before you get on with cleaning today, sit down with your babes and play with them – a card game, dollies, read them a book, or whatever you know they would love to do with you. Give them your time first. If you don’t have babes, make sure to do something that brings peace to your soul before you get to work.

Martha Challenge: Tackle the second task on your list (assuming you did the first yesterday). I will be cleaning my daughters bedroom today and getting rid of clothes and toys we don’t need anymore. My girls will help me, and for each thing they do I will give them a ticket that will earn them treats and a movie at the end of the week (I’ll move on to my sons room tomorrow).

WOOT!

Click the above button to link-up your blog and see others who have joined the challenge!

How do you get cleaning done in the summer?

…

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