Good-Will Intentions

Today I found myself praying for good-willed people. I was thinking of specific people and then God said, "Hey! You are included in that group also." He was of course right, so I had to pray for myself too. I think everybody falls into this category. Whether you have good intentions to be the greatest housekeeper (okay...I admit it, that's one good-willed intention I strive for), or promise to finish a house renovation in a couple of months and two years later you're still waiting for it to be completed, we all fail.

Good intentions could be like New Year's resolutions, except I think resolutions usually are a personal goal where as good-willed intentions affect other people. I could probably think of a ton of excuses as to why I just can't seem to keep my house spic-and-span, but the reality is I try and keep failing, sometimes miserably. People say to ask for God's power to help you. Hmmmm...sometimes I think I know what they means and other times I'm not sure. I think what that usually means is to just keep praying that God will help you make that good-willed intention into a reality. It could mean that He will all of a sudden fill me with super hero power and once a week I will be able to sweep through my house and in an hours time have a spotless house. After all, He is God, He can do that if he wants. But, no, I think it really means that little by little the Holy Spirit can help me by giving me motivation to see the dishes in the sink and do them NOW instead of thinking I will get to them later and it doesn't happen until tomorrow.

For the past couple of years, one thing that God has been telling me to help me with my housekeeping problem is to simplify, simplify, simplify all of the stuff we have so that there isn't so much to clean. It also helps that my kids are now older and can help out more by doing chores so that not everything feels like it's falling on my shoulders. It's taking a while, but I am starting to see results. The emphasis here is to not give up--keep praying, and I really believe that yours and my good-willed intentions will turn into a reality.