The Laundry is Calling...Again!

Of all of my "housewifely" duties; laundry is the one that never seems to be "done" all the way. I rejoice that there is not another piece of laundry in my laundry room to clean; and poof! More appears. I guess in a family of 5 that is to be expected, but lets just say it's not my favorite. (Can anyone relate?)

In an attempt to get this laundry thing a bit more structured (yes, I am type A...) we developed this system: My daughter brings her laundry down, sorts and helps me wash, fold and put it away on M/W. Gentle Strength brings his down and does his sorting, etc. on Tues/Thurs. It truly has helped because when you are doing all of one person's laundry at the same time it saves time and energy because you aren't having to make all kinds of piles for different people, there are smaller loads, etc. It has been going much better, until everyone got sick last week...now the mountains are again forming.

In the midst of our "laundry intervention," God gave me an analogy that really spoke to my heart. I was explaining to my daughter about the proper usage of stain stick (pre-spot, etc.) for stains. I heard myself telling her that the sooner we deal with the stain; the better the overall outcome will be. Profound I know. ; ) It dawned on me that the sooner we deal with our sins, our woundings, and our "stains," emotionally and Spiritually the better the outcome can be as well.

It is sometimes easier to "stuff" or hide sins, woundings and "stains" on our hearts initially. I am guilty of this. Thoughts like, "I just don't have the energy to deal with this right now." or even that if I ignore it maybe it will go away. But most of the time things don't just go away on their own. When issues that we have stuffed arise again; the task of dealing with the root of the "stain" gets more daunting, difficult, and time consuming.

My daughter got a little lesson on "stains" physical, emotional, and Spiritual ones right then and there in the laundry room. I'm not entirely sure how much she completely understood; but it is worth it to me to ramble on hoping that she can glean where I have struggled. That she could experience victory and healing in shorter time spans than I have in my life. That she could learn how to be free, whole, and stain free.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Rev 1:5 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power for ever and ever!

She bopped out of the laundry room ready to stain stick the world. God dealt with my heart a little further on some stains that I have been letting "sit in the laundry basket" of my heart a little too long. My guess is, you might have a little stained laundry too...want to have a little laundry party? I'll bring the Shout wipes!

I'd love to hear if you have any awesome cleaning or laundry tips as well. As my friend Angela says, "There's no reason to re-invent the wheel!"

May you be stain free today!

Shanda