It Starts in the Heart – Organize His Way Review
I was given a copy of this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for more details.
The past couple of weeks I've been helping my mom recover from knee surgery. During that time, I've had the chance to read Organize His Way by Eileen Koff. I've been fascinated at how similar my mother's knee surgery parallels that of lives lived in the pain of clutter. Let me explain.
My mother lives with us, and for the past seven years living day to day, the gradual increase of her pain, and decline of her mobility was so subtle to me that I didn't realize she was dealing with extreme discomfort. I don't think she realized it either. It was much simpler to accommodate the pain than get rid of it (or so we thought). This means we would drop her off at the door, or my son would walk slowly with her giving her his arm for support. She'd go to the doctor every six months to receive an injection to help manage the pain, and take supplements daily to get by.
It wasn't until we went to Boston last October that I really noticed a difference in her mobility, and it took seeing through the eyes of my sister to really grasp the change. In the town where my sister lives, you can walk everywhere. When we arrived, we were in the peak of the fall colors, and my sister kept wanting my mom to walk to see the beautiful red, orange, and yellow trees. They were truly spectacular. I kept thinking to myself, "Mom doesn't just walk like that anymore." But my sister didn't know that, and my mom is so sweet, she wanted to see the trees. Each night I'd rub her knees down with the biofreeze I brought for my aching neck, and she seemed to be doing well.
We even went to Niagara Falls, and she toured the majestic beauty like a champ. As I headed home, I realized that she was extremely limited by her pain, and she was waiting for me to give her permission to have knee surgery. That sounds crazy, I know, but she lives with us, and she would hate to be a burden on us, so she deals with the pain instead of asking for help.
When the surgeon came out to report on her successful surgery, he let me know that the knee was worse than he thought. It was bone on bone, and it had been that way for a long time. Why in the world did my mother live in that kind of pain for so long? I think it was because she feared the pain of the surgery more than the pain of continuing living in the chronic pain of a arthritic knee.
Doesn't that sound familiar? We live with chronic messes in our lives, and we avoid surgery because we think that the pain will be too much to bear. I'm happy to say that my mother was wrong. The pain has been minimal, and the recovery in the scope of time is a fraction of the time that she has spent managing the pain.
It Starts In the Heart
Eileen challenges us to think about what would it be like if we considered the clutter in our homes as a faith issue. We live our lives as if we are the masters of things we amass, yet if those very treasures are keeping us from God's best, they are mastering us.
In Organize His Way, Eileen starts with the heart and mind. Changed thinking leads to changed living. She does a beautiful job of walking you through scripture that points to lies we have believed about ourselves and our possessions. 
While the goal is organization, Eileen doesn't define that as pristine HGTV perfection. She keeps a beautiful balance between the two. Her heart is to shed light on the debilitating power of clutter both in your home and in your mind. Clutter breeds isolation, distraction, confusion, and over-complication. This is not the full life that God intended for his children. In order to find peace, we must humble ourselves, and release the shame and fear we feel for living lives outside of His best.
Just as my mother overcame her fear and submitted her knee pain to a surgeon to do is work, we too must overcome our own fears and submit ourselves to the Great Surgeon to bring healing to our lives.
The Benefits of the Organize His Way Workbook
I love that this is not just a how to book for getting your home in order, but a sweet shepherd walking you through scripture to renew your mind before offering practical tips for implementation. There is no condemnation, just hope.
As you read through each chapter, you pause along the way to reflect, respond, and pray about the concepts discussed. While she gets you started right away, the tasks are realistic and manageable. There is great comfort in knowing that Eileen knows that this process isn't easy or overly simplistic. She paints a realistic picture and then slowly equips you with tools to organize His way.
About the Author:
Eileen Koff, CPO is the founder and president of To The Next Level, a certified professional organizing business based on Long Island, NY, and the 2013 NAPO-LLA award winner for “Best Green Service”. Ever since her teenage years, Eileen has taken great joy in helping people organize and simplify their surroundings. Well into her career as a professional organizer, she has added author and speaker to her credit as she fulfills her passion for speaking and teaching on the joys of leading an orderly life. Her obsession lies in witnessing the transforming power of God’s Word in the lives of those she serves. Eileen lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of over 35 years, having raised three sons who are now off on their own.
Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter.
Eileen Koff is also available to host workshops for your group. Contact Zadok Publishing to find out more.
Time for a Giveaway
I'm excited to be able to give a copy of this book away to one of my readers. Make sure you enter the giveaway in the box below.
If you want to get your hands on a copy of this book right now, Zadok Publishing is offering a 25% discount on the first 20 orders of Organize His Way. Go to Zadok Publishing select Organize His Way, add to cart and at checkout enter in coupon code FSS0316. The code is good until April 30, 2016.
Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Zadok Publishing for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.
I’m excited to read this book!
It’s a great read! Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for sharing this resource I struggle with this! My worst area is the entryway. It all gets dumped there!
I totally do this too! It’s just too easy to drop it on the way in.
Continually renewing our minds, that’s the key isn’t it?! This book sounds very interesting!
Our family room seems to be where clutter breeds, its a daily struggle to keep it picked up.
I always think that if we didn’t live at our house all the time, it wouldn’t get so messed up! If that’s where you spend the most time, it stands to reason that it would be the place that’s hardest to keep clean!
All of them?
In all seriousness, I work hard on one area, and while that area gets under control the rest gets worse.
That is so funny! And frighteningly true!
Thank you all for leaving these comments. Please understand that most everyone deals with disorganization in many seasons of life,so you are not alone. That’s why I wrote the workbook to be used in a small group bible study. Coming together to share our struggles and letting the Holy Spirit reveal to us the whys makes every difference in the change of heart and mind…our lives need to reflect Him in all ways. I look forward to hearing from you directly at
Eileen@eileenkoffministries.com
Blessings~not stuff,
Eileen Koff
Thanks for stopping by Eileen! I love that your workbook is designed for small groups. I think that a big key to finding freedom from shame in our lives is working through it in community. The secret things hold power over us. It’s only through confession and transparency that their power lessens. Thanks again for sharing your book with me!
This book sounds like a must read!! When we downsized into our tiny little house, we were so excited at the prospect of spending even more family time together. That of course has been incredible, but with the downsizing came complete loss of organization. Our living room is also our dining room and school room. I always feel like everything is going to come crashing down around me when I walk through the door!
Oh wow! Downsizing is amazing, but you have to be so purposeful with every inch of space! Eileen’s book is great because she doesn’t overwhelm you with giant projects to tackle, but walks through step by step how to get your space working as a blessing to you and your family.
This book sounds like a fantastic resource. I’ve been praying for something like this to help me tackle the clutter in my life. It’s hard to narrow my biggest area of struggle but it probably comes down to the kitchen counters or the coffee table.
I struggle with organization. I find I spend a lot of time planning and not enough time executing.
I know how that goes too! Finding a balance between planning and organizing is key. I’ve started making my to-do lists in my calendar so that I have deadlines for those tasks, and I can be more realistic with how much I can actually get done.
Wow, I need this! Clutter seems to be a constant struggle in our home. Our living room and school room are always the worst because that’s where we all spend our time. Love the family time together, not so happy about all the “stuff.” Would love to do this as a family study.
I would like to know how to help my children feel like it is okay to give things away. And how to talk to well intentioned grandparents that give without thinking about how hard I am trying NOT to receive! Does her book touch on these issues?
Samantha,
Your question is one I heAr continuously. Instead of a donate bin, I have parents set up a blessing bin. Let the children do some research as to the charities in your area and then plan a trip for them to go with you to the one chooses. Having them involved in the blessing makes their hearts understand the value of giving Gods way.
Ask Grandparents to give experiences, not stuff. Research with your kids activities they would like to learn…cooking, art, various lessons etc. there is no limit to how they can expand their grandchildren minds in giving them experiences and not clutter up their rooms. Remember I’m here to help answer your questions at
Eileen@eileenkoffministries.com
Blessings~not stuff,
Eileen Koff CPO
We at Zadokpublishing.com would like to thank Betsy for reading Eileen’s book and relaying her insight and opinion on how this is an applicable topic that really touches all of our lives. I also want to thank Eileen for the opportunity to get to know her heart and to help spread the word that God has given her.
We know in our own lives of homeschooling 3 teenage boys that not only does our house get cluttered with the things needed (and not needed) to support their efforts, but our lives get cluttered and can weigh us down from achieving all that we want and God wants from us.
We still have books available with the discount code FSS0316, we would love to get this resource into every hand. Let me know if I can help in any way.
Blessings,
Michael Ball, COO
Zadok Publishing
I cannot seem to get the Zadok link to work.
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