* In this special mother-focused series, Alaina (Joshua's wife) will provide interaction with these videos from CanonWire and Rachel Jankovic *

While I feel both Doug and Rachel lost sight of the question – “How do you make the clean hearts of your children ‘the end.’ and a clean house ‘a means ‘to that end” posed at the beginning of the clip; they meandered in a direction perhaps even more relevant to my own life (the 15 month old doesn’t do much cleaning and I fear the one due to arrive in 28 days will be even less helpful!).

Keeping a clean house to develop a clean kiddo’s heart moved into the mother’s heart in attempting such a feat. Another true confession – clutter and untidiness act as agents of frustration to me. Nothing will dampen my mood more than a yard un-edged or a sink full of dirty dishes. Perhaps that is why I found myself squirming a bit when Rachel noted that children know when cooking, cleaning, or chores are important as events necessary to the survival and flourishing of one’s home, verses being important to a mom’s sense of identity and self-worth. 

It might not have been a practical how-to measure of developing a clean heart in one’s offspring, but this clip pulled no punches in discussing the cleanliness of the mother’s heart.