Yes, It Is...

...a blessing. I know, you all look at this like I do...another pile of laundry. Like many of you I have finally come to the realization that no, it will never be done. I used to think that it would. That one day, I would wash, dry, fold and put away all the laundry and have nice clean empty laundry baskets. That's it! It's done! But it never works that way...every time I FINALLY get the clothes put back neatly in every one's drawers there it is, another laundry basket full...taunting me. Oh, maybe I can put it off a day or two but eventually, the cycle will start again. I used to think this was the bane of my existence I certainly complained like it was. I couldn't be more wrong! Those clothes would not be there, piling up, if I didn't have happy, healthy children in my life. Children who go out and get muddy, play in the dirt, jump in puddles, crawl all over the floor (that I still need to clean), drool, spill milk on themselves, and generally take the clothes on their back completely for granted...which is exactly how it should be. I wouldn't have laundry if I didn't have a husband who worked hard every day earning money to buy more clothes, nice linens, Egyptian cotton towels...and I have the audacity to complain?

In the past I had attended a Bible study and the gist of the lesson was that even the menial chores in life should be done with joy and with gratitude. That even scrubbing the toilet was a blessing in that we are making a clean environment for our families. "What crock!" I thought, "cleaning toilets a blessing? I don't think so." Then not too much later, my friend Andrea, who I have written of before had a good day. She felt well. For the first time in months she wasn't literally sick and tired from chemotherapy. She had the strength and energy to get off the sofa to clean, cook and yes, do laundry. And she couldn't have been more happy about it. She told me with enthusiasm, "I did laundry!" I thought to myself "how much do I take for granted?" A lot! She is in the hospital now, hooked up to machines, not even able to breathe. And here I sit, amidst piles and piles of laundry and am so blessed in ways I'll never be able to imagine. I know she would do anything to be at home now folding her son's jersey or ironing her husband's shirts. So when you are doing the next round of laundry, this time instead of seeing it as a burden, see it for what it truly is. It is a blessing.

Please pray for Andrea, her husband Jim, their sons Nic and Anthony, the doctors and nurses who are working hard to make her better and for all of her friends and family who love her.