Laundry Day

Today's laundry day.

I usually tackle laundry on Mondays. I mean, we dread Monday enough anyway, right? So a long time ago I figured I'd throw everything I hate doing - laundry, bill paying, pity dating, oil changing, leg waxing, etc. - into one day. Seems to have worked out just fine for me.

But when I moved to Freeman House, all that changed. You see, in Dallas I had to share laundry facilities with people of... questionable... character. And mental stability. It gave me the heeby-jeebies knowing my lingerie was hanging out with those people. But here I have a new Whirlpool laundry duo. And a clothesline.

It's funny, too. (Or sad. Depending on how you see it.) For some reason, I use that clothesline all the time. Really, it's not all that unusual out here. In fact, some neighbors still keep up with each other based on their clotheslines. After all - the clothesline will tell you what's going on inside the house. Good towels and sheets hanging out to dry? Guess someone's expecting company. Baby clothes? Guess someone's welcomed a new little one. Bathing suits and beach towels? Someone just went for a dip. Bare lines? Someone's busy. Or out of town. Or waiting for a husband to pitch in. Seems like our lines say a lot about us.

I was thinking about that while hanging out my own laundry a few hours ago. (Yep, on a Thursday.) I was thinking about laundry. About the lengths we go at times to air - or bury - our dirty laundry. I was also thinking how many other things are a dead giveaway as to what's going on inside our houses. Or our hearts. I was thinking how my words... my actions... my attitudes... are, in a sense, airing my spiritual laundry. Displaying - for the world to see - the condition of my heart and acting as a true barometer of my relationship with God. And these words, actions, and attitudes... well, they're hanging out there all the time. Not just on Monday, but on Thursday, too. On every day. Every day is laundry day.

I sat down beneath the Magnolia tree alongside my clothesline. I looked at my laundry and thought.

Kind of makes you wonder what the neighbors see on your clothesline, huh?

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. - Colossians 3:12