Working on the Outside

Yesterday Adam and I had a dilemma.  After our Sunday afternoon nap (mandatory around here) we had about two and a half hours flex time before we needed to begin our school night routines.  We talked.  What would we do?  Claire wanted to take a walk around the whole neighborhood.  I wanted to spend at least an hour cleaning the inside of the house.  Adam needed to mow.
We decided to focus on yard work with the possibility of coming inside to clean house later.
Apart from tending to my little garden and flowerbeds around the house, I don't do much yard work.  I'm not opposed to it; it just usually falls under Adam's domain.  Yesterday was different.  Each family member pitched in.
Paul and Claire tackled the leaves that were everywhere.  They rotated between using the good rake and the super-cool leaf blower.
Adam focused on trimming bush/trees.
I rotated between the groups bagging whatever they had collected.
We ended up having such a good time working together that we spend the entire time outdoors.  Toward the end, the kids got tired and switched to playing Frisbee, which was fine.  They worked hard at manual labor for about two hours, so 30 minutes of play was totally acceptable.  Adam and I circled wagons and focused on one side of the house, which is now free of leaves and unsightly branches.
While we were working, though, I began to see that was where we needed to be.  At home, I spend most of my time indoors, so I often have an urgency about maintenance for the inside of the house.  There's always a load of laundry to hang, dishes to wash, floors to vacuum, and the dust bunnies yell at me daily.
I rarely think about maintaining the outside of our home.  Sure, that bush is half dead and needs trimming and/or uprooting, but look at the dust in the house!  Yes, there are piles of leaves that are slowly turning to coal and diamonds around our driveway, but the dishes are overflowing!
This inside/outside struggle is parallel to another struggle I have.
I spend little time maintaining my outward appearance.  As long as I'm clean, I don't really think too much about being in fashion, wearing makeup, having the latest hairstyle or being physically fit.  Instead, I spend many hours working on inward maintenance.  In my life, inward beauty is more important than outward beauty, so I am constantly praying, journaling, replaying my day and analyzing how I can be a better person.
The problem with that is that I get so focused on that I forget the outside needs maintenance, too.
So today I have both read my Bible and done a short Pilates workout.
Today I will try to focus on not forgetting I have an inside and an outside.