About the Author

Kathi lives with Roger and a bunch of chickens in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. There they host writer retreats, and Kathi writes about how to do life with God a little closer today than yesterday. She’s a best-selling author and absolutely loves her Clutter Free Community on Facebook.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. I always strived to be that mom who had everything in place, everything perfect ! I raised three children and two dogs in a 900 square foot home so anything out of place made the house look a mess! Over the years it just didn’t matter anymore … spending time together (even though things weren’t perfect) was all that matters !! Looking back I’m a mom with children in their thirty’s and I wish the house was full of messes and stacks of laundry! Young mommas spend time with your babies you will miss the laundry!

    • I get it, our perfection can keep us from connection – I’m so glad we tend to get wiser as we grow!

  2. Great message. We all can learn and be encouraged from this. Thank you sister

  3. As a struggling, recovering perfectionist with my life, laundry and house, I love this perspective! For too many years, my perfection problem has stood in the way of warm welcomes. I still entertained, but not as often as I should and when I did, I was focused on cleaning it all up. (This is very embarrassing to put in writing. See how one woman’s vulnerability can set other’s free?)

    Thank you Kathi! There’s hope for me yet!

    • Nicki! There is hope for all of us. And your comments will set someone else free. Thanks for being brave sister!

  4. Yes yes yes my sentiments exactly! Be proud of who you are. imperfections are beautiful because they allow you to just be yourself. Own them and invite others into your home no matter what condition it’s in!

  5. LOVED (and identified with) your comment “I am one of those people who can keep my whole house looking great, all at the same time, for about thirty-seven minutes (as long as nobody moves)”. Thanks for the laugh and the great post!

    • Cheyla – that was my favorite line as well. (Because even if it’s just me, I can still make the mess!)

  6. I appreciate the audio for these posts. I do my PT exercises while I listen.
    Spiritual and physical strengthening at the same time.
    Fantastic use of time.
    I recently discovered In-courage.
    I’m thankful for the morning Inbox messages and words of encouragement.
    Thank you.
    Linda

  7. Thank you thank you thank you. Ive just got to the place where people are welcome into our “home” whatever that looks like on the day. I clean when I clean and any mess inbetween is life that happens. However we’ve recently got a puppy, she has a bladder problem and is a bit stinky. whatever I try, however much I wash her and her bedding and the floor, there is still a smell. Its hard welcoming people into my stinky home however we run youth club from our home and I sew for other people. No one who has visited has commented and everyone Ive appoligised too has said it doesn’t smell. Your post has really helped me. I know some people would struggle coming in here but thankfully not the people God has called me to hang out with.

    • I love your heart, and thank you for helping this puppy. Everyone wants to be on the gracious side of a puppy and their accidents. (At least the kind of people I want to hang out with!)

  8. Thank you so much for validating how I feel. People should be coming to see you, not the things around you. By the way when your house has this and that laying around it shows you the house is well lived in. Also, I wash my laundry all together. I am thankful now I have come to that acceptance in my life, rather than trying to be perfect. I am thankful God has been perfecting me. ♥️

  9. Loved this post! Needed this! I grew up in a home that was always immaculate but I don’t have the energy to keep house that way. I’m still only comfortable having my kid’s friends over (kids don’t seem nearly as scary or judgmental as adults!), but I love your brave philosophy to embrace wherever you’re at and go from there while still being hospitable. Thank you.

    • We learn the judgement as we grow older, unless we actively fight against it. God bless the children!

  10. Kathi, thank you for this! I had to look up the Galatians verse to believe it was really in there! So reassuring that we don’t have to be perfect. But we can strive to improve. And, yes, always welcome visitors!

  11. AMEN \0/ …..

    If we were perfect God would not use us!
    If we were perfect we wouldn’t seek and need God!

  12. Hi

    What a Joy to read about
    Doing laundry! You are a
    Special Person!
    Enjoyed reading so much!
    Love & Hugs!
    Sandy
    I’m 83 years old

  13. I don’t think social media has done us any favors, or maybe it’s that humans have a way of turning something that could be positive and finding a way to use it negatively. People are so divisive that they must turn even the smallest thing into an I’m right/you’re wrong situation. As for our homes, if we allow social media to impact us, we would all be “styling” our homes instead of the good old fashioned decorating our homes to suit our taste. When did we all buy into believing our homes have to look like a model home that nobody actually lives in? I say do your laundry any way you want to. I might just take mine down to the river and scrub my clothes on rocks just to be different! There’s no right or wrong and we should all be tolerant and celebrate our uniqueness.

  14. Oh my what a perfectly timed post! Lately work life & church life have been extraordinarily busy & my house is not as neat & clean as we would like. Of late I’ve struggled with the comparison that my house is not as clean as my Mom’s was (all the time!). I give myself grace that she did not work outside the home & she assigned chores to us kids but that doesn’t get my house any cleaner. It is such a comfort that guests don’t remember how neat or clean my house was but how welcomed they felt while they were here. Jesus welcomed me in my filthiest sin. How can I not welcome others even with a dusty armoire! Blessings upon blessings!!!

  15. I was raised by a perfectionist mom so of course sorting laundry was expected but a few years back (I had just turned 50), I started working as a nanny for a family that did not, and never had, sorted laundry, and I learned it was just fine lol .

    • Right?!? It’s so great to be exposed to people doing things differently!

  16. As I get older (50 in December) but with 2 kids still in the house at 12 and 16, things aren’t perfect BUT our love and the time we spend together is close to perfect and THAT is what I’m learning is most important.

  17. I love it! I grew up sorting laundry by colors, but in recent years since our wash load sizes have decreased, I have begun washing everything together. (I do throw in a Color Catcher, though.) It saves me a lot of time!

    And I really appreciated your idea on a previous post… to take 15 mins to do a bit of a project when I’m not able to tackle the whole thing at once. My desk is getting cleaner. 😉

  18. Kathi,

    Social media has done more harm than good. People post pretty pictures of their seemingly perfect lives. Most people I know aren’t perfect, but busy. I work 40+ hrs. in 4 days then hubby & I get a day together & he is off working 36 hrs. in 3 days. Add to that I volunteer with a Food bank 3+ hrs. a week, run all errands, etc. We had a housekeeper (hubby’s ex-ML) for many years but she recently broke her arm. It is up to us to do it all now. It is what it is. When I go to visit others it is for the friendship. Don’t complain about house not being clean. I don’t care. We are all doing the best we can daily.

    OH By the way I don’t sort laundry either. It comes out clean as a whistle.

    Blessings 🙂

  19. Excellent! I do all the laundry in the family and do sort, but the house is a mess. Thank you for the encouragement about comparison. I think we all need the reminder from Galations!