Wednesday’s Word

Wash, Scrub, Rinse, Repeat

Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it until the time of Christ-Philippians 1:6

Wow, it’s Wednesday already? Whew, grab your coffee and come on in for Wednesday’s Word, and thanks for joining us for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United.

Have you ever wanted to begin a project but just never got around to it? Perhaps the thought of where to begin was like a unsolved mystery, or the task seemed so daunting that we tucked it in our cubby holes if our minds, hoping it would get lost in the hole but instead, we are taunted by its reappearance every time we look at something that reminds us about it.

Well, for weeks, I’ve wanted my tile floors cleaned, and even had two estimates to get them professionally cleaned. One was fairly reasonable, but I wasn’t thoroughly satisfied with some prior work they had done, and the other estimate, well, let’s just say it made me almost gasp with frustration. “Why couldn’t I do it myself,” I asked myself. So I began to talk myself into this project, telling myself I’ll feel good when it’s done; tt shouldn’t take that long; I’ll just go one tile at a time. And then I set a date to get it done!

As the date got closer, I psyched myself up and determined in my heart and mind that I was not going to put this off; I was going to get this done and like it, too! And then, I would move my living room furniture as a bonus!  Saturday dawned incredibly warm and sunny and after my own coffee hour with Abba, the warmth was taunting me towards the beach, but I flushed that thought out immediately and began to get ready to clean the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I grabbed rags for knee pillows, a bucket, my favorite scent of Fabuloso, a wire scrub brush, a rag to wipe up what I would scrub, and a sponge to get the extra water. I was ready!

Within the first six to eight tiles, I began to think, “What in the world was I thinking?” See, the grout has never been cleaned and we’ve been in this house for almost 13 years! Please don’t get me wrong; my house isn’t dirty, but tile grout is not high on my list of cleaning priorities. But after just six tiles, I had to change the water! It was filthy! Not only because of the grout, but also the individual tiles have little grooves all up in them and so you can imagine the dirt that was hiding inconspicuously, at least to the human eye when looking at it while standing up, but when hunkered down over each individual tile, well, it was all right there, as though I was using a magnifying glass. And all these years I just thought it was part of the tile pattern!

About thirty minutes into it, my hands were starting to hurt from scrubbing and then wringing out the rag to rinse the tile. But then my husband joined me. J I’m not sure if me on all fours humbled him or excited him, but never the less, he got a pail, another scrub brush, a rag and of course we shared the Fabuloso!  I was so grateful for the help and it invigorated me as I realized I wasn’t alone in this chore that seemed doable at first but now never-ending.

We continued working each of us lost in our own thoughts, the rhythm of the scrubbing working like music to our ears while the strength of the brushes’ bristles lifted 12+ years of hidden grime and dirt. Every now and then, one of us would say something about how we just couldn’t believe it, how dirty it was or how clean it was looking.

I got to thinking while I was doing this deep cleaning –uh-oh, I’m thinking again! J -- cleaning this tile is much like the process of becoming spiritually clean: wash, scrub, rinse and repeat; wash, scrub, rinse and repeat. Jesus is not a Shop-Vac but a Gentleman who comes in one area at a time, washes away the top layer of dirt to peel back and reveal the deeper dirt –the things that we hide from even ourselves – and ever so gently scrubs them away as we allow Him to, rinses the residue off as many times as needed and then goes on to the next area of our life. And then there are times He has to come back to rinse again before the dirt turns to grime. This is much like the verse says: He who began a good work will be faithful to continue…until the time of Christ!

Oh, Heavenly Father, the Housekeeper of my soul, I’m ever so thankful you don’t scrub my sin away as harshly as I was scrubbing my tile, but there are times as You’re peeling back the top layers of dirt and exposing the deeper grime that it hurts like heck. Thank you for your patience in the washing, scrubbing, rinsing and repeating process of making me more like you, until the time of Christ…and thank You for giving me the strength to clean my tile before You return! J

Love,

Evinda

P.S. Join me on Thursday for Coffee Hour Live on Facebook at 10:00 PST for more of the Loving the Unlovable series, Step 10! www.facebook.com/EvindaLepins