Where No Oxen Are

I just love Proverbs 14:4.  "Where no oxen are, the manger is clean.  But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox." 

The first time I came across this verse it was being applied to children in our homes.  There will come a time when there will be no children in my home, and (maybe!) it will be clean (at least a lot less of it), but for now, it is blessed with children and their creative play and their pets, and toys, and books.  But, just look at the reward-"revenue comes".  Look at the blessings that come.  Blessings come to the parents by having children to love and disciple.  Blessings come to the children by being allowed to be creative, make some messes, learn, and love furry friends.  Blessings also come to my children by my choosing to spend time with them, and on things I need to do for myself in order to be a good mom, instead of making sure I have a spotless home. 

All of my kids have chores, and we work hard to keep it reasonably clean, but there are some things that just have to wait.  Sometimes it starts making me crazy, and like yesterday morning, we have an "everybody is going to work together to get the downstairs cleaned up really quickly" morning. 

If you come to my house, it is likely that you will find 2 or 3 play "corners" set up.  Sometimes a "corner" may be the entire den!  These change around weekly depending on what the little ones are doing.  I make them pick up those scattered toys, but if they have spent a lot of time setting up a play scene, and I know it is something they will come back to for a day or two, we have decided to let them leave it out.  They may go back and forth between 2 or 3 activities during the day.  When they don't touch it one day, then they have to pick it up. 

So, though, I don't use this verse as an excuse not to do housework, it is a look at the reality that I have 5 people who are in this house close to 24 hours a day, and a 6th one here when he's not working.  My home is full of living, and if you drop by, chances are you'll have to step over some of it and move it off the couch to sit down.