Laundry Day

In my house, every day is laundry day. Although the people who live here are all capable of managing their own laundry, I don’t mind keeping up with it provided they sort it in the proper bins. Let me add, if the clothes are not sorted properly, I’ll make the necessary corrections. However, I do not, and will not, go into bedrooms or bathrooms in search of items to wash. If someone decides to pile dirty clothes in the corner of their room, then they have to do their own laundry. I believe those rules are more than fair, and since I’m the only person writing the laundry rules around here, there won’t be any amendments in the near future.
Although laundry is a daily chore for me, I don’t think about it much, yet this morning, my laundry basket was one of the first images my mind produced. As soon as the alarm jolted me out of sleep, there were two thoughts waiting for me. They were the same two thoughts which circled my mind only a few hours before, when sleep was no where to be found. Both involved struggles with situations outside of my control, and perhaps that’s the reason for the mental battle: I want to fix everything. Oh, and I want everyone to be happy.
That’s when I remembered my laundry basket, and my rule about only taking care of what’s in the basket. I thought about how freeing it would be if I would just place all of the troubling thoughts into God’s basket, and let Him handle them. For too long, I’ve mulled over the situations stacked in the corners of my mind. So I did it. I gathered the thoughts, every one, and before sorting them I whispered Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Things I need to accomplish today were placed on a list, and a prayer for improved time management skills were put in God’s basket. I wrapped the decisions I need to make in a prayer for wisdom and courage, and placed them, too, in God’s basket. Finally I threw in the situations over which I have no control. I thanked God for His constant love, protection, and presence in my life. My trust in Him is truly greater than any disappointment I’ve experienced.
As soon as I finished, I remembered Philippians 4:6,7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
The process of sorting out my thoughts, then praying over them as I released them to God brought the peace I sought. In my life, every day needs to be this type of laundry day.
Ronny may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com