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spring cleaning
The Cleavers
4 min.Read

Spring Cleaning: Are Dust Bunnies Blocking Your Relationship’s Blessings?

Cortne Smith
By Cortne Smith

A Time to Clean

When we think of spring cleaning, we often think of time spent ‘deep cleaning’ our home. It’s a change of seasons where we rearrange our furniture, perhaps lighten up the decor, and take the opportunity to open up the windows to let some fresh air in.

That is, after we sweep, wash, dust, and rummage through the junk that’s been hanging around for a year or longer. By now, it’s time to identify things that can be trashed or things in need of repair before fall or winter use.

Spring cleaning also sets the stage for good times as we prepare the grill or outdoor fireplace for perfect spring nights with other couples, neighbors, family, and friends.

I look forward to this season.  It allows me to purge those things that have not been used or things that have been used up in the past 12 months. My rule is – if I have not used or worn it in the last year, it no longer serves me and I don’t need it.  I should either let it go or bless someone else with it, depending on its value.

Spring Cleaning for You and Bae

When was the last time you spring cleaned your relationship?

Is your marriage backed up with dust bunnies that have been collecting for years? Or, have you become a hoarder of unforgiveness, negative emotions, apathy, and the like?

If you and your mate want to step into spring shiny, new, and refreshed, here are some spring cleaning tips for your relationship:

PURGE…

Those things that have not been used or are no longer working (Philippians 3:13).

Outdated Mindsets

Is stinky thinking keeping you from freely moving to the next level in your relationship? Certain traditions or habits are good, but is the good keeping you from being great? Is the routine something foundational for your life, or is it something you hold on to out of fear?

Spiritual Routines

Are your spiritual routines so tight that they actually stifle Christian growth, or no longer serve as an example for your mate, kids, or family to follow? If yes, this will cause division in your home. Do not be so religious that your relationship looks like an outdated closet of battered, torn, and ill-fitted clothes. Dress in humility and purpose for where God is taking you. Make sure you enter spring wearing spiritual garments that make others want to dress (live) like the follower of Christ you’ve become.

REPAIR…

Any processes, habits, or routines that have value, but need more structure (Colossians 2:7).

Financial Dysfunction

Are you incorporating the five aspects of financial health in your marriage: Making, Tithing, Investing, Saving, and Giving.

Do an assessment to see if you have been incorporating each of the above steps into your financial lifestyle. Otherwise, you are moving in a circle, constantly hitting a brick wall because you are not utilizing each component of the process.

Whether it’s the fear of not making enough money or the acceptance of lack, it’s time for a repair. Even if more time is only spent on making more money, you will never accumulate enough to sustain financial health without the other factors.

Are you feeling like nothing is being reciprocated in your financial relationship? If so, do an honest self-check.  Do you have a closed fist that blocks others from giving (stingy), or do you constantly take without leaving something for someone else to give (greedy)?

Time Management

Are you busy, but not productive? You have a full calendar of events, you and your mate are the socialite couple, however, none of the busyness pours back into building or uplifting your relationship. Schedule your calendar to include quality time with each other, as well as time for personal care and professional relationships.

PREPARE…

To make room for the new things that come with the atmosphere of springtime (Isaiah 43:19).

Daylight = CLARITY

This is a great time to grab some shades, i.e. the Holy Spirit, to assist with discerning the difference between things that shine versus things that are brightened by the Son for your relationship to enjoy.  Know the difference between what is for your relationship and what your relationship is attracted to.

Fresh Breeze = NEWNESS

Open yourself up to fresh ideas, new people, and new situations to bring freshness into your relationship.  Allow for good things to blossom and prosper in this season.

Make sure the screens on your windows fit appropriately. This will filter out debris and prevent an infestation of insects from entering into your relationship. With your windows of heaven open, welcome the wind of God’s word to fill your hearts and your home.

So, What’s the Play Call?

Let SPRING CLEANING begin!

Dust away debris and spider webs that have built-up in your relationship, blocking the free flow of your love, prayers, and clear communications.

Let go of things that were not tailored by the Master’s hands to fit perfectly in your unique relationship.

Sweep your mind of thoughts and habits that are taking up valuable space and holding you back from being abundantly blessed.

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They Changed Their Minds about Slavery and Left a Bible Record

0
Two businessmen’s unusual conversion in 1700s South Carolina led them to liberate the people they put in bondage. At first glance, William Turpin and his business partner, Thomas Wadsworth, appeared to be like most other prestigious and powerful white men in late 18th-century South Carolina. They were successful Charleston merchants, had business interests across the state, got involved in state politics, and enslaved numerous human beings. Nothing about them seemed out of the ordinary. But, quietly, these two men changed their minds about slavery. They became committed abolitionists and worked to free dozens of enslaved people across South Carolina. When most wealthy, white Carolinians were increasingly committed to slavery and defending it as a Christian institution, Turpin and Wadsworth were compelled by their convictions to break the shackles they had placed on dozens of men and women. In an era when the Bible was edited so that enslaved people wouldn’t get the idea that God cared about their freedom, Turpin left a secret record of emancipation in a copy of the Scriptures, which is now in the South Carolina State Museum. Perhaps it’s not surprising that this story of faith and freedom is mostly unknown. The two men were, after all, working not to attract attention. Neither had deep roots in Charleston or close familial ties to its storied white “planter” dynasties. Turpin’s family was originally from Rhode Island, and Wadsworth was a native of Massachusetts who moved to South Carolina only shortly after the American Revolution. Both had public careers and served in the South Carolina Legislature, but their political profiles were not particularly high. Neither of them appeared to give any of their legislative colleagues the sense that they were developing strong, countercultural opinions on one of the most ...Continue reading...

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