The Clean Sweep

Growing up in a small town I was afforded opportunities of community involvement that are not readily available in larger cities. In my hometown of Skagway, Alaska, Spring was host to a community wide project called Clean Sweep.

I am not exactly sure how long Clean Sweep has been going, but I remember being involved in it for most of my elementary school years continuing through High School. Most kids in larger cities cannot imagine taking time off from school to go walk around town picking up garbage. I really did not mind picking up trash for half a day, as it was such a reward to just be out of school, and of course at the end of the day the classes gathered for snacks and juice to get us sugared up for our unsuspecting parents!

The cleaning involved everyone from town who would take different sections of town and clean up, putting all their garbage into bags that were collected later. It was a great community building tool, bringing people together for a common goal and it left the town clean and ready for the upcoming tourist season. It was a great moment of pride when finished to look at the work accomplished and to see that we all loved our community enough to keep her clean.

This year my wife and I are tackling our own personal clean sweep in our house. We are ushering in springtime with some deep cleaning in our house. New colors will adorn the walls of the living room, kitchen and my daughter’s room. We will thin out our storage space to make room for our miscellaneous gatherings of junk we have collected in our patio space, and spruce it up for early morning coffee on brisk mornings to watch the birds fight over the feeder. The lawn will be finely trimmed, and the hedges prepped for a summer of growth and the last bit of fall leaves will be raked up. I love this time of year, as it leaves a crisp feeling of cleanliness and beauty that is the herald of summertime beauty.

Clean Sweep is also a spiritual task that I take upon myself. I often reflect on my walk with God, seeking direction from Him. It is during these times in which some clean up might need to be done. Either through lessons learned from life experience, conversations with wise friends, or by reading His words, I find areas in my life, which hold me back from a closer relationship with Him. Pure and simple that’s what life is all about, a relationship with Him, growing closer to Him and following where He leads. When I find my life cluttered with too much junk, it weighs me down and makes my walk with Him laborious and tiresome. There are times He wants to prepare me for a “summer of growth”, which may require some trimming of “self”, or painting His presense in an area that in my life that could use some sprucing up.

I hope that during this Spring you will reflect upon your own life. God just might want to prepare you for your own “summer of growth.”

"Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10