One of my favorite bloggers, Crystal, is hosting a new challenge: Making your home a haven. Her timing is perfect! I’ve been trying to get our apartment organized and under control so that I have more time to do things I really want to do…but it hasn’t been easy.

I’m glad to be making my home a haven along with other bloggers. Strength in numbers, ya know?

Click over here to see what’s mentioned in her challenge for today. Here’s my responses:

1. The Psalm I flipped to today was 113. Here’s a verse from it:

He raises the poor out of the dust,  And lifts the needy out of the ash heap. - Psalm 113:7

Even millionaires can be poor, and everyone is needy at different points in their lives.

2. A morning routine. Hmm. This would be good for me to establish.

First, I’d like to get up at about the same time every day. I think that would really help my terrible sleeping situation. My goal is to be up and moving by 8 a.m. every day. So far, that’s not happening.

After using the bathroom, I’ll make the bed, fix breakfast, and eat it. That’s simple enough–and I think I can do it.

3. The third step of the day is to spend 5-15 minutes decluttering the front part of the home. I’m going to need to spend more time doing that today–it’s a mess. But, you’ve got to start somewhere, so why not start with the first 15 minutes of a task? I’m going to get started right now.