hello and welcome!
I’m Merry, writing, consulting, and homeschooling from Hollywood with my husband, Marc, and our three daughters.
Have you ever been so severely wave-pummeled that when you finally resurface—adjusting cups and straps, spitting hair and sucking air—you reevaluate your relationship with water? This is how I felt about God after losing everything during a cross-country move from Minneapolis to New York City, only to wind up in Phoenix, living with my in-laws.
During that season—stripped of everything, questioning everything—my obsession with maintaining the perfectly curated lifestyle was exposed for what it was . . . idolatry.
Before the pummeling, life looked pretty ‘perfect’; I considered myself happy, content and faith-filled, but a secret root of idolatry was growing inside of me. At the time, I could admit restlessness and boredom, but those feelings seemed standard for people my age. What I didn’t know was how that restless feeling in my gut was anxiety and self-doubt.
Mildly depressed about the world, I chose to be part of the solution and “do better” (whatever that means). I did the post-coffee-checklist everyday: coffee, devotions, pin the pins, read the articles, check the news and then compare myself to the social media world which inspired the post-coffee-checklist, then set about my day, committed to ‘make a difference’ and ‘do better’. It was a stressful juggling-act, but all I could see (both inside and outside the church), were others performing in the same circus. I was clawing my way toward that better me I pictured in my mind and I was doing it for Jesus and the world.
Because self-image idols don’t sit prominently as gold statues on the mantle or desk—well, except maybe here in Hollywood—mine was living and growing, undetected in my heart; exposing it took a work of mercy from God.
I’m compelled to share my story (especially with women) since our homes and self-images are such an important aspect of our lives and can easily and subtly become an identity for us, taking the throne of our hearts.
The mission of Clean House is to release, encourage, and equip other spiritual girls to throw off the false identity of material image and walk with spiritual authority in God’s image.
why write?
In 2014 (while still an interior decorator) I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, “Release the Women”. I began writing for women, incubating this revelation that ‘what’s inside of you matters more than what’s inside your house‘.
Since then, releasing women has not only proven to be a message for the masses, but a personal message of forgiveness and letting go of my perfectionist’s grip on myself.
Sometimes choosing to release led to joy, and sometimes release was the joy, but either way, release meant FREEDOM!
If you pay any attention to the home-beautification-industry, it’s a popular sentiment that “your home is the greatest reflection of who you are”, but this is simply not true. It sounds true, and I used to share it with my clients, but I know now (from experience), it’s just a trap—a chain that connected me to my home and circumstances. I still like having beautiful things and decorating my home, but the appearance of my home and body no longer tell the story of who I am.
I desperately needed to know who I was, apart from my image. Maybe you do too!
the message
Your home and body are not reflections of who you are.
Consulting is personal and fun and I still do it (via zoom), but there is only one of me working with one household at a time; through writing, the message God has given me can spread anywhere people need to read it! If you enjoy what you’re seeing or find it helpful, let me know in the comment section of the blog, subscribe to receive post updates, and pass it along to help get the message out!