Ensuring safety across workplaces, roadways, and public environments has never been more vital. Numerous safety initiatives and modern technologies are driving down accident rates, helping protect lives and property while promoting operational efficiency. Enhanced awareness, along with responsive support from organizations such as Fasig | Brooks Law Offices, ensures that both prevention and legal recourse are accessible to those affected by accidents.
Sectors ranging from transportation and logistics to construction and city planning are implementing cutting-edge strategies to combat risks. By blending technology-driven solutions, educational outreach, and legislative action, these efforts create pathways to safer experiences for individuals and businesses alike. Advanced safety systems, structured safety programs, and effective public policies all play important roles in making environments more secure for everyone.
Key Takeaways
Advanced technologies like AI-powered safety systems and telematics are driving significant reductions in accident rates.
Strategic programs such as Vision Zero and the STEP Health and Safety Management System foster safety-conscious cultures.
Local, state, and national legislative measures, including seat belt laws and automated enforcement, are effective in saving lives and decreasing injuries.
AI-Powered Safety Systems
Artificial Intelligence is transforming how companies and municipalities approach safety. AI-driven tools can analyze real-time data to assess risk factors and prevent incidents before they occur. In the transportation industry, for example, companies that have adopted AI-based safety platforms have observed crash rates drop by as much as 73% over a 30-month span. AI not only reviews historical trends but also provides real-time alerts, empowering drivers and operators to quickly correct unsafe behaviors. AI is helping reduce both the frequency and severity of workplace accidents by delivering actionable insights directly to front-line workers and supervisors.
Telematics and Fleet Management
Telematics refers to the integrated use of telecommunications and informatics to monitor vehicles and drivers in real time. In fleet management, telematics systems monitor factors such as speed, braking patterns, and vehicle maintenance needs. By identifying and addressing risky behaviors, companies see fewer incidents and lower operational costs. Research from the National Safety Council indicates that using modern telematics can reduce accident rates by up to 20%, while also enhancing accountability and safety culture within organizations. Drivers benefit from immediate feedback and coaching, creating lasting habits that help make roads safer for everyone.
Vision Zero Initiatives
Vision Zero is a bold global movement aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries. First adopted in Sweden, this philosophy has been embraced by cities like New York and San Francisco, among others. Vision Zero initiatives focus on proactive measures such as lowering speed limits, redesigning intersections, and improving pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure. These interventions have helped major cities achieve sustained reductions in fatal and severe traffic incidents, emphasizing that traffic deaths are preventable.
Construction Industry Safety Practices
The construction industry is historically one of the most hazardous sectors, but proactive safety programs have delivered remarkable results. The STEP Health and Safety Management System stands out as an effective framework, guiding employers through a series of incremental steps to build a comprehensive safety culture. Companies committed to the STEP system record workplace incident rates more than six times safer than the industry average. A combination of ongoing training, hazard identification, and strong leadership commitment helps sustain these outcomes over time, providing evidence that structured programs are essential for maintaining workplace safety and reducing accident rates.
Legislative Measures: Seat Belt Laws
Seat belt laws are among the simplest yet most impactful legal measures for reducing crash-related deaths. Mandatory seat belt use in vehicles correlates with significantly fewer fatalities and injuries, with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showing that seat belts reduce driver death risk by nearly 48%. In a single year, seat belt usage in the United States has been credited with saving more than 15,000 lives. Enforcing seat belt compliance remains a critical component of traffic safety and has become a benchmark for other life-saving public health initiatives.
Traffic Enforcement Cameras
Automated enforcement systems, such as speed and red-light cameras, play an increasingly important role in discouraging risky behaviors and reducing collision rates. New York City’s extensive speed camera network, for example, has achieved a 30% decrease in collisions and a 16% reduction in related injuries. These cameras deter dangerous driving behaviors, provide consistent enforcement, and supplement police efforts, changing public perceptions of road safety. Cities adopting these systems observe quick results and improved compliance among motorists.
Conclusion
Innovation, structured programs, and strong legislative frameworks are all integral to reducing accident rates across multiple environments. By harnessing the latest technological advancements and embedding them alongside evidence-based policies, communities and organizations foster safer conditions for everyone. These proven initiatives not only save lives but also promote accountability, efficiency, and an enduring culture of safety in every sector.
Welcome to your source of FREE Medical Binder Printables! This year, I’ve lost 65 pounds! You read that right….65 pounds.
Over the past 5 years, I’ve been working on one major habit in my life in an effort to become healthier. I started using essential oils, creating my own essential oil products, gave up soda completely, gave up fast food completely, started drinking water, and several other things. But this year, I noticed something really crazy happen, completely on accident!
I gave up the flavor enhancers you put in water and started drinking Green Tea instead. Little by little, I started to notice I was losing weight! Since I changed nothing else in my diet, nor did I start exercising, really that’s the only thing it could have been.
Next, in my effort to be healthier, I want to add in exercising, because I’ll be honest, I do not currently exercise and I know I should!
Because I’ve been taking my health a lot more serious, I created these fantastic printables for us ALL to use to improve our health and be more organized….because you know me…I’m an organizational FREAK! No seriously! I totally am.
These Medical Binder Templates will help you not only get organized, but take better care of your health as you PAY ATTENTION to the things that we sometimes forget to think about!
There are different sizes of spines to fit whatever binder size you have on hand…no need to go out and buy another binder. Just use one you already have and you’re good to go.
If you do need a binder, here are the appropriate ones on Amazon:
What’s included in the Medical Binder pdf…
Medical Binder Covers
Spines
Dividers
Vital Information
Visits to the Doctor
Medication Log
Medical Consultation Log
Doctor Visit
Medical Contacts
Blood Sugar Tracker
Symptoms Tracker
Blood Pressure Log
Family History
Medical Release
Dental Log
Transformation: Before
Transformation: After
Body Measurements Chart
Personal Measurements Charts
30 Day Fitness Challenge
Personal Workout Plan
Daily Inspiration
Grocery List
Recipes to Try
Recipe Card Printable
Water Tracker
Vitamin Intake
Journal
Goals & Rewards
Monthly Overview
Me Time Tracker
Growth Tracker
Child Notes
My Favorite Pages
It’s kind of hard to choose favorite pages because they are all very helpful, but I do have a few favs. 🙂
Visits to the Doctor
These Visits to the Doctor Medical Binder charts allows you to keep track of all your appointments. It includes the date, doctor, reason, result and follow-up sections. All your important information in one spot!
Medical Contacts
The Medical Contacts printable may be the most important printable in this binder! This printable allows you to have all your medical contact information in one spot. Whether it’s for an appointment or an emergency situation, all of it is one place!
Water Tracker
This Water Tracker printable is a way to ensure you’re drinking enough H2O. It’s a must to stay hydrated throughout your day!
Daily Inspiration
Each of us needs a dose of daily inspiration! This Daily Inspiration printable will give you that pick-me-up and encouragement you need!
Personal Workout Plan
This blank Personal Workout Plan Medical Binders chart enables you to customize your workout plan. Notes and goals section included too!
30 Day Fitness Challenge
Who’s up for a challenge? This 30 Day Fitness Challenge printable will sure to make a difference in your appearance and the way you feel. Four days of rest included . Notes section included too!
I mean, all year long you pour your heart and life into those around you, your family, your friends, the people at your church, your neighbors, and on THIS ONE DAY…it’s about YOU. It’s YOUR day. People celebrate YOU.
It’s a fun celebration!
Today I made a super ADORABLE kawaii Hello Birthday Coloring Page Free Printable just for you!
You can color it yourself to celebrate your birthday, you could stick it in a card for a friend or attach it to a gift, or you could give it to a child who’s birthday is coming up.
Everyone will love celebrating this amazing birthday doodles coloring page! 🎉
Be sure to grab more fun birthday printables:
Happy Birthday Coloring Sheet
This super cute Hello Birthday coloring page printable is filled with adorable, kawaii birthday icons like gifts, cupcakes, cake, balloons, candy, a party hat, and lots of stars and confetti-style dots.
While you’re coloring this coloring sheet and the bonus coloring pages, think about what you want this next year of life to feel like. What do you want to accomplish this next year? What do you want to do? How do you want THIS YEAR to be different?
How To Use These Happy Birthday Bubble Letters Coloring
This is your permission to enjoy something light and happy today, to celebrate YOU. 🎉🤗
Color it while you sip your coffee or tea and let your mind unwind while you enjoy the day
Use it as a cheerful page in your personal binder or celebration section
Turn it into a sweet card by coloring it and gifting it to someone you love
Color it during a cozy night in with music on and your favorite pens or markers
Attach the sweet birthday treats coloring page to a plate of homemade cupcakes
Gift it to a child whose birthday is coming up
Attach it to a present for a friend so they can color it
Use as kids birthday party activity sheets at your next fun-filled birthday party
Sweet Birthday Card Messages
If you want to give this page to someone you care about, here are short messages that fit perfectly on a card.
I hope your day feels loved from start to finish
You deserve a year that is soft and beautiful
So thankful you’re in my life…Happy Birthday!!
Praying your year is full of peace and joy!
You make life brighter. Wishing you the most fun-filled birthday
Today is for celebrating you
I’m glad you’re here
What sets your printables apart?
• Other printables are either functional OR cute. I bridge the gap between the two. Since I’m a single mom and don’t have time to mess around and am a kid at heart, I love something that actually propels me forward and gets the job done quickly, while still having that super cute vibe I’m known for. • I’m a graphic designer FIRST. This means my printables, whether free or paid for, will always be of the highest quality and print crisp and clear on any printer. • I love what I do and I do the work myself. I’m not hiring these out. This is my life, my hobby, my passion, my heart. • My fans are obsessed with my work. To date, I’ve made over $23M on printables alone (organically) in the past 8 years.
Is this printable free to download?
Yes! Except for some large binders, all printables on the blog are 100% free for personal use. I make these because I genuinely want you to have something cute and helpful right now without having to spend a dime. You deserve a life that feels more peaceful, more organized, and more you, and if a simple printable can make your day feel lighter, I am so happy to give that to you.
All printables are for personal use only.
Printables, graphics, backgrounds, SVGs, fonts, and design elements on this site are for personal use only. You may not alter them or redistribute them for free or monetary gain without written consent from the author, Sarah Titus. If you want to share these resources with others, please share the link to the blog post. Teachers & Churches: You may share these with your classes, colleagues, and congregation as long as they are not edited in any way.
Can I use these printables for my classroom or church group?
Absolutely! You’re welcome to print as many copies as you need for your own students or church groups. I only ask that you do not edit them in any way (leaving the full copyright line in tact) or sell them or host the digital files on other websites. Please always link back to this post to share with others.
What’s the best way to print these high-quality printables?
For best results, I recommend using standard 8.5″x11″ white paper. Since these are professionally designed as high-resolution PDFs, they’ll stay crisp and clear on any printer. To print, simply download the PDF to your device and open your printer settings. Select “Fit to Page” to ensure the printable looks perfect.
Whether you’re an adult or a child, going to the dentist can be a scary thing. You never know if you have a cavity or not and if you do, it’s painful to have it taken care of…not to mention expensive, sometimes expensive even if you have insurance.
It’s never a fun or pleasant visit, although dentists’ offices really try to make it as pleasant and pain-free as possible. They really do such a great job at trying to calm down our fears and put us at ease. ❤️ Still, it’s a scary thing, and for a kid, it’s even MORE scary.
Someone putting a tool in your mouth seems evasive, like a loss of control.
Will they hurt me?
Can I trust them?
Will it be painful?
Lots of worry and fret spin around in a child’s mind and so today, I wanted to help ease those fears by creating a super cute kawaii Hello Dentist Coloring Page Free Printable.
This adorable little PDF printable CAN absolutely help settle their nerves and bring a positive note to the whole dental experience and that’s my goal for you today. 🥰
Whether you’re prepping for a big dentist appointment moment or just looking for preschool dental health printables to keep them busy, bringing a dental coloring page printable to your dentist will really help give them something to focus on while they wait.
If you’re a parent or a teacher heading into dental health month activities, this children’s dental health coloring page is a total lifesaver in teaching children about dental hygiene.
If you work in a dentist’s office, grab this printable, make some copies, and put it in your lobby with a cup of crayons to help kiddos who come in and need something to do.
If you’re a parent, grab a couple teeth coloring page printables in your purse as you head out with your kids and let them color while they wait.
The cute little happy kawaii graphics are sure to make them feel more at ease and show them that it’s okay!!! ❤️
Kawaii Dentist Coloring Page For Kids
From the tiny molar characters to the little ‘fresh’ mouthwash bottles, every inch of this dental hygiene coloring sheet is designed to make oral dental health time feel like a happy adventure instead of a chore, so you can keep up on your cavity prevention plan with your little ones! 🥰
This cute dentist coloring page printable is packed with adorable dental doodles like happy teeth, a tooth with braces, toothpaste, mouthwash, a toothbrush, a dental mirror, apples, little hearts and stars, and 2-minute brushing timers, all in a clean black and white style that’s so satisfying to color.
It’s the perfect healthy teeth coloring page, no matter what age your children are, from toddlers to teens and everything in between!
You wanna get your kids to feel safe and to ease nerves. Using a pediatric dentist coloring page or other preschool dental health printables is such a great way to prep ’em! Here’s some great ideas that’ll help!
Dentist Role Play Game
Before the appointment, play “dentist” at home for two minutes.
Let your child be the dentist first, then you switch.
Count teeth, pretend to polish, and practice opening wide while staying relaxed and silly.
You can even show them this dentist tools coloring page to make toddler teeth coloring practice feel like a game. This will help them be at ease at the actual dentist office. ❤️
After the Dentist Reward
Plan a simple reward before you go so everyone knows what’s coming.
Offering a dental coloring page printable or a fun oral health coloring page as a little prize is such a great add-on to a happy experience. Here are some more fun ideas:
Park time
Library trip
Choosing dinner
Gift: a small toy, a new pencil, or even this cute brushing teeth printable
Picking the family movie
It’s definitely not an easy task for parents to go through (or for the kids), but helping them both before AND after the appointment will really solidify that going to the dentist is a normal, routine part of life that we all have to do and that it’s okay to be scared, but we need to be brave and take care of our health properly.
What sets your printables apart?
• Other printables are either functional OR cute. I bridge the gap between the two. Since I’m a single mom and don’t have time to mess around and am a kid at heart, I love something that actually propels me forward and gets the job done quickly, while still having that super cute vibe I’m known for. • I’m a graphic designer FIRST. This means my printables, whether free or paid for, will always be of the highest quality and print crisp and clear on any printer. • I love what I do and I do the work myself. I’m not hiring these out. This is my life, my hobby, my passion, my heart. • My fans are obsessed with my work. To date, I’ve made over $23M on printables alone (organically) in the past 8 years.
Is this printable free to download?
Yes! Except for some large binders, all printables on the blog are 100% free for personal use. I make these because I genuinely want you to have something cute and helpful right now without having to spend a dime. You deserve a life that feels more peaceful, more organized, and more you, and if a simple printable can make your day feel lighter, I am so happy to give that to you.
All printables are for personal use only.
Printables, graphics, backgrounds, SVGs, fonts, and design elements on this site are for personal use only. You may not alter them or redistribute them for free or monetary gain without written consent from the author, Sarah Titus. If you want to share these resources with others, please share the link to the blog post. Teachers & Churches: You may share these with your classes, colleagues, and congregation as long as they are not edited in any way.
Can I use these printables for my classroom or church group?
Absolutely! You’re welcome to print as many copies as you need for your own students or church groups. I only ask that you do not edit them in any way (leaving the full copyright line in tact) or sell them or host the digital files on other websites. Please always link back to this post to share with others.
What’s the best way to print these high-quality printables?
For best results, I recommend using standard 8.5″x11″ white paper. Since these are professionally designed as high-resolution PDFs, they’ll stay crisp and clear on any printer. To print, simply download the PDF to your device and open your printer settings. Select “Fit to Page” to ensure the printable looks perfect.
One of my friends, the most dearest lady you’d EVER hope to meet, the best mom I’ve ever seen in my whole life, was known as the busy little bee in her family. Always working hard, always encouraging others, always feeding people, always helping others, and making everyone feel so special. ❤️
I can’t tell you how much I loved this woman and how much she meant to me, how the world was completely ROBBED of her goodness, her light, ✨ her energy, her love, as she passed away way too early in life from cancer.
The hole in my heart where she was, a hole that only she could fill is real, and it’s one that doesn’t go away.
So often I think about her and how much I miss her, how much she meant to me, and how much I wanted to tell her before she went to Heaven. Because of her, I know what true love is.
I can’t stop thinking about her, I can’t seem to move past it, I can’t seem to forget the joys that she gave me, the immense love and friendship she gave and so today, I honor her with this printable, so that her life and her love will always be remembered. 🥰 For her son, my best friend and the love of my life, and for her family…this one’s for you guys!
I hope that everyone can benefit from these super cute little busy bees and color this Hello Busy Bee Coloring Page, remembering YOUR favorite friend in your life.
Let us all take a minute to remember how blessed we are to have great friends in our lives, to appreciate them, to cherish and love them, to treasure them as much as we can, while we can.
Life is so short, a fleeting moment, gone so quickly. Enjoy every minute of it. 🎉❤️
Grab the printable bee coloring page below and enjoy spending time with your friends and the time you have with them!!! 🤗
Looking for more free springtime printables? Grab these below…
Cute Bee Coloring Page for Kids
This bee coloring sheet page is filled with adorable busy bees doing all kinds of fun things, like holding a honey jar, painting, reading, and flying around happy flowers, hearts, and little sparkles. It’s black and white, so it’s perfect for crayons, markers, colored pencils, or if you really wanna get fancy pants: glitter- every parent’s nightmare. 😆
Beyond the Lines: A Little Coloring Quest for This Cute Bee Coloring Page
If you want this to feel like more than just a honey bee coloring page, complete these tiny little challenges…
Color every heart a different color
Pick one bee and give it a name, make up a story about it
Color the honey jar label your favorite color
Find all the flowers and make them rainbow-colored flowers
Choose one bee and make it your “main character” and add extra details like stripes, freckles, or a bow
Mini Bee Facts For Kids
Want to make this spring bee coloring page feel like a whole little bee theme activity without doing anything extra? Teach kids more about bees and you have a cute little unit study or learning moment! 🥰
Bees help flowers make seeds by moving pollen from flower to flower. That’s called pollination.
Bees taste with their feet, which is totally weird, right?! It makes it faster for them to find the flowers they want.
Honey bees live together in a hive and work as a team, similar to ants.
A honey bee’s food is nectar and pollen from flowers.
Bees do a little wiggle dance to tell other bees where the good flowers are.
Baby bees start as tiny eggs, then they grow into larvae before they become adult bees.
Bees have five eyes, two big ones and three tiny ones on top of their head.
Bees are important because they help many fruits and vegetables grow.
Quick Questions To Ask Kids While They Color The Bee-Themed Coloring Page
Which bee on this insect coloring page for kids looks the busiest, and why?
If you could name one bee on this printable bee coloring sheet, what would you name it?
Create an I-Spy Game With This Kawaii Bee Coloring Sheet
The answer key for a fun I-Spy Game is below (all bees are 1, except for the ones below):
What sets your printables apart?
• Other printables are either functional OR cute. I bridge the gap between the two. Since I’m a single mom and don’t have time to mess around and am a kid at heart, I love something that actually propels me forward and gets the job done quickly, while still having that super cute vibe I’m known for. • I’m a graphic designer FIRST. This means my printables, whether free or paid for, will always be of the highest quality and print crisp and clear on any printer. • I love what I do and I do the work myself. I’m not hiring these out. This is my life, my hobby, my passion, my heart. • My fans are obsessed with my work. To date, I’ve made over $23M on printables alone (organically) in the past 8 years.
Is this printable free to download?
Yes! Except for some large binders, all printables on the blog are 100% free for personal use. I make these because I genuinely want you to have something cute and helpful right now without having to spend a dime. You deserve a life that feels more peaceful, more organized, and more you, and if a simple printable can make your day feel lighter, I am so happy to give that to you.
Can I use these printables for my classroom or church group?
Absolutely! You’re welcome to print as many copies as you need for your own students or church groups. I only ask that you do not edit them in any way (leaving the full copyright line in tact) or sell them or host the digital files on other websites. Please always link back to this post to share with others.
What is the best way to print these high-quality printables?
For best results, I recommend printing on 8.5″x11″ white paper. These are professionally designed as high-resolution PDFs so they will stay crisp and clear, making them perfect for any printer.
When I originally wrote this post, I had no idea how God would use it. As a result of it, I was asked to speak on a public Christian radio station. It was definitely out of my wheelhouse (I’m an introvert through and through). 😊 I was so nervous and scared but they walked me through it and it came out great! I think that as we go through life and are obedient to what He’s called us to do, we never know the results HE can do when WE obey. He can use our obedience far further than we can ever imagine, so I implore you, as you go through your life, always obey God no matter what He asks you to do. Even when it seems silly or crazy or far out of your comfort zone, obey. Never stop obeying Him because He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11), much bigger than you can see right now. 🥰
I had a friend recently ask me how I keep an organized home with such a messy family. Organizing with a messy family is beyond frustrating, right?! I mean…
No one puts anything up (after what I just cleaned up today, seriously, they are all pigs! lol) and I’m an organized fiend. How do I maintain balance in my home? Sanity even! Although I’m far from perfect, these are the things that help me the most to have a tidy home…
The first thing I would say is to chose your battles (Colossians 3:1-4).
Is it really THAT important your spouse put the cap back on the toothpaste (they make pumps you know. haha!) or that the dishes are done every single night? But when you find a can of molded food under someone’s bed, okay, now that’s a battle to fight for. Mold can lead to some serious health risks.
I always like to think in terms of Jesus coming…
So, if Jesus came tomorrow, would it matter if the toothpaste cap wasn’t on or the toilet seat lid was up?
If I had one week to live would I really care if the dishes were done every night?
But, I would be concerned of the molded food, because my kids could get hurt. It could lead to asthma, allergies, and respiratory problems. So, that would be a battle I would chose, for their best interest. And that is really the point. When you are living for someone else with their needs ahead of your own, then all the little petty stuff doesn’t really matter, does it?
This principle can be applied to everything in your life.
If your friend and you are having a disagreement, for example, is it really worth fighting over? Even if it’s the truth of Christ, we don’t always have to fight for it. We can’t control other people to believe what the Bible says and it’s not our job to go around forcing them to. 💯
Offer the gospel, offer the truth, but it’s really up to them if they want to accept it or not. That part isn’t our job….to believe FOR them. They answer to God, not to us. Our job is to go about our lives as witnesses to others as Biblical, God-fearing holy Christians striving to do our best for our wonderful Savior.
Choosing your battles will help you live a much more peaceful life! Romans 12:18.
Regarding Children
1) Teach them young
Applying Proverbs 22:6 to this area of our lives can help. Teach them early the way that you want them to go. The quicker you start teaching them how to clean and why it’s so important, the easier it is when they get older.
My kids have been doing little things since they were two. I’d have them fold washrags or bring me dishes from the table. The earlier you start, the better! You may want to implement a cleaning chore chart and stickers to make it more fun for them too! 🎉
2) Have clear consequences
If you don’t do this, then this will happen. If you do what I ask, you will be rewarded. After all, as a Christian, does not the Lord do that with us? Chastise His children when we fall off the wagon and go our own way, bless us when we are in full obedience to Him. Today, I just got done cleaning my daughter’s room, uh yeah, thus the inspiration for this post 😊.
Her room has been messy for a little while and I’ve asked her to clean it several times. She played, I think, more than cleaned because you still couldn’t see the floor, much less walk in there. It was so messy, you couldn’t tell the clean clothes from the dirty. I don’t know how she gets dressed every morning to be very honest. And just in case you think that boys are messier than girls, my daughter proves THAT theory wrong! 😆 She is, at least double as messy as my son has ever been.
Maybe there’s some system to the madness and I’m immune to it. It took me an hour and a half to clean her room. Some of her toys ended up in the trash, and everything was sorted, and cleaned to my standard. When she got home I expected her to be really upset with me and she asked about a few specific toys, but after a little while in her room for homework, she came out and said “THANK YOU. Thank you for cleaning my room.” Now, some mom’s might really be offended by that. But I wasn’t.
Related:
You see, I see it. That spark inside her that LIKES a clean room…and if cultivated, she will be a clean girl just like her momma. I told her that she was welcome. That I love her and I’m not trying to just be mean, but that God’s standard is that we clean up after ourselves. That we work hard (Proverbs 31:13b; Proverbs 31:17), are not lazy (Proverbs 31:27), or live like pigs.
That this standard is for our good, and that since He put me in charge to manage my home (Proverbs 31:27a), it was my job to enforce HIS rules. She can argue with a lot of people, she can argue with me, but when it’s right there, black and white in Scripture, it’s hard to argue with the God who created it all. 😊
3) If all else fails, do what my mother used to do
Take away toys, but do it in a godly fashion, with genuine love in your heart, so as not to provoke your children (Colossians 3:21).
When MY room was messy as a child, my mom would go in my room while I was in school and clean it. The difference is that she took away EVERYTHING that was on the floor! I mean, everything. Clothes, toys, anything that was on the floor I had to EARN it back! You can easily start out small. They pick up after themselves when you ask, give them something back.
If they are still not getting the hint, take away their better toys, the ones they love. Every child has SOMETHING they REALLY love. If they don’t have something they truly love, buy it for them with the purpose that you can train them in love.
For my daughter, that was an iPad. The reason she has one is because it’s really important to her. So, when she is in trouble, I can take it away and she gets the message loud and clear and it helps straighten up her behavior.
Every child is different.
My son responds better with conversations (talking things out in detail in a back-and-forth conversation, so he understands it), my daughter responds better with toys taken away. You have to find what is important to them to get the message across that keeping a clean home is important to God and to you. It’s as simple as that.
4) Slow and steady wins the race
They are not going to change overnight. It will take a long time, years sometimes. Be prepared to work with them in establishing new habits. Being a mom is not for sprinters. It’s a L-O-N-G race. Think 20k marathon. Consistent actions, consistent punishments/rewards will get you there….and prayer, lots of prayer for your children’s hearts. Because changing an action is easier than changing a heart, but the heart is ultimately what we want to sow to.
Regarding Your Spouse
My husband was probably THE messiest person known to mankind, let me just say that upfront. He never cleans anything, never helps clean anything, never helps take care of the kids, it’s all me.
I came to Christ AFTER we were married. Some time after. And it was a constant daily struggle to maintain peace in our home because well…he’s on one side of eternity, and I’m on the other. And while God has given me such a care and concern for him, I know that I personally could not change him. It would have to be God.
So, not only did I live with a messy husband, but I had to endure the last several years (since giving my life to God), in a hostile situation where my husband deliberately made a mess and did things purposely that he knew would upset me and tried to cause me to stumble in my walk with the Lord.
With all that as a precursor…every marriage is different, and while you CAN encourage your spouse to be neater, you cannot try to control, manipulate, or change them. Changing them is a work of the Lord.
5) Think service
It’s a hard balance to be in, I get it.
Trust me, I get it!!
But, I also know that the Bible has a lot to say about our relationships with our spouses. Like…
Putting them ahead of ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4)
Doing things in this world as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24)
Treating others how we want to be treated (Luke 6:31)
How being quick to disagree/fight is like a leaky faucet dripping and it’s better to live on the corner of a roof than to live with someone like that (Proverbs 27:15-16; Proverbs 21:9)
Pretty strong words. 💯
But applied practically, you can expect to suffer for Christs’ name sake. You can expect to just clean up the mess, and know you’re doing it FOR and UNTO the Lord, NOT your husband. The rewards are in Heaven, my friend! Keep your focus on God, not the world!!! 💎
Constantly and consistently pray that God will mold, shape, and change your spouse’s heart. If something is important to you, it should be important to your spouse, but like in my case, it was the exact opposite.
As a Christian woman, although under the authority of someone wicked, God is my supreme court and He will only allow what is to my benefit. When it is not to my best interest, God will change the situation, and as an update to my story, He has.
He provided a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13) and my husband left – at the time, devastating, but in the end, a great and glorious gift of the Lord! 🎁
And God has used his leaving for His good in so many ways, one of which, this blog was born. I never would have started it while being married to him. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good, His mercy endures forever! ❤️
7) It’s not over yet: sanctification
Focus on your pitfalls.
Focusing on what you WANT: I want a clean home. I want my husband to help clean our home are your desires. Be sure that your desires line up with Scripture. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that it is a man’s job to clean the home.
In fact, just the opposite is true. Is is a woman’s responsibility (although a godly husband WILL help his wife in all things, one being helping to clean the home as that is a part of loving her – Ephesians 5:25).
But let me tell you, just in case you think a man’s job is easier than a woman’s, I can tell you from experience now being single for so long, that it is MUCH, much harder!
Simply put, focus on what the Lord has YOU to do, don’t focus on how someone else is not keeping YOUR standards. I say that in love, only because I was there myself.
I was so focused on HIS failures, that I didn’t take a look at my own. When I stopped caring how HE was sinning against the Lord, how he wasn’t a Christian, or a good husband, how he was trying to make me suffer purposely, and started focusing on my own sin and how I could be a better wife, mother, and Christian, despite whatever he was doing, my life drastically changed!
I started to grow by leaps and bounds in my Christian walk. I started to run!! 1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:12–14; Hebrews 12:1. And I’ve been running ever since! 💎
