I feel like I need to be honest with you. I wrote this until I looked down and realized it had been well over 5 minutes. But, I had to go all the way around the block. I couldn’t stop and sit down halfway from the house. So, I chose to finish my thought and walk y’all back home with me.
Here is the idea behind Five Minute Friday: Every week, bloggers from all over write for five minutes flat on one specific topic. Then, we gather here to link up our stories.
Today, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate subject
Laundry
It has been nearly a week since I have put away any clothing. And yet… I keep washing them. I wash and dry and move them onto the couch until we need to dig through them to find something clean to wear.
If I have to choose between a giant pile of clothes on my bedroom floor and a giant pile of clothes on my living room couch, I will choose the couch. Couch clothes are at least clean and less likely to become the home of a curious spider.
I do this every so often. Something will happen that will throw off my routine, and I will get behind. Like… 10 loads of laundry behind…Is there ANYONE who actually enjoys the folding and putting away laundry?
Hint: This is not the time where you tell me, “Ummm… yes.” This is the part where you shake your head with me and say…. “Of course not! Who likes finishing what they start? Who likes a finished load of laundry?”
I knew you all felt the same way.
Sometimes, I even go as far as folding the clothes and stacking the piles, and then moving the piles to my bed during the day so that we can sit on the couch and then back to the couch at night so that we can sleep in our bed. I do this for a few days while STILL washing and drying and adding to mount washmore…. Or should it be mount foldmore? Until… I finally find a free hour to fold and put away the entire towering heap.
And when I am done, the feeling is always the same. I look around and promise myself that I won’t let it get this bad again. I will do what every pinterest organization tip has taught me which is to start a load in the morning, dry the load by lunch, and fold and put away the load by dinner. Repeat daily.
I make this promise to keep up with the work like I promise myself that I will be grateful for a nearby potty the next time I am driving down the highway and finishing off my route 44 water with no gas station in sight. We always forget to be grateful for the put away clothes and the nearby potties until…
Well.
Tonight, I am standing here staring at this towering heap of clothing, and I am overwhelmed. And sometimes, it isn’t about the pile of laundry at all is it?
Sometimes the pile of clothes is more than socks and underwear. Sometimes it feels like a giant monument in the middle of the living room reminding us that our work will never be done. That we will wash and dry and fold and put away until the hamper is empty… and then after bath time we will scoop up dirty clothes and sticky socks and remember that there will always be more laundry and the house can never be completely clean…
But you know… it’s okay.
It’s okay because I will choose to remind myself that my value is not tied to the number of loads of clothes that get put away…
Can I get an amen?
My worth is not based on what I do or do not get done.
Praise the Lord.
My worth in all things comes from Him. The One who blessed me with this mess. Who gave me 4 stinky feet to dirty socks … and a hardworking husband to muddy jeans.
I thank God that Eve’s nasty hand-me-downs of shame and regret will not be found in that pile of clothes. I thank God that I am clothed in righteousness, and as a daughter of the King, I am confident that He aids me in every single thing I do… even the grace to praise through the mountain of laundry.
And you know… if it takes a pile of clean clothes to remind me of that… then I will choose to look at my couch and see a mountain of blessings… all 14 loads of them.
