What can you accomplish with:
a box of Brillo Pads,
a bottle of Windex,
a kitchen sponge,
an expired credit card, and
a box of clean rags?
Apparently, you can clean a house well enough to pass a base housing inspection.
Our moving process has been greatly blessed by having my father-in-law with us the last week. He is a tireless worker who loves to play with the hose. He has helped us with the unpacking part of moving several times, but this time we needed him on the checking out part of the journey, on the off-chance that my husband would be unable to get away from work.
With the three of us at home to supervise the packers, we started the cleaning process as soon as rooms became available. We don't have any kids or pets, but there was still plenty to do. In the beginning, it seemed easy.
Windows and screens washed - check
Walls and baseboards dusted - check
Cabinets, drawers and shelves wiped down and out - check
Carpets vacuumed - check
Oven and stove cleaned - check
Oven and stove cleaned - check
Then we hit the wall... the shower wall, that it.
Hard water and soap scum were prepared to be our downfall. We sprayed and rinsed with numerous products designed to handle such a tough job, but were disappointed with the results. And then I realized that the "easy" way out just wasn't going to cut it, so I reached back into the corner of the cabinet and pulled out the tried and true instruments of cleaning torture... Brillo pads, ammonia and Windex.
And they worked... along with several hours of elbow grease, while standing in or sitting on the edge of the tub, and using the expired credit card as a scrapper, we got it done - it was definitely a team effort, with each of us taking a turn to make those fiberglass showers smooth and shiny.
We love it when things are easy, but sometimes they are hard. Weight loss, exercise, complicated recipes... we often give up because somehow we have been tricked into believing that simpler - faster - easier is better.
But some things are worth the effort that it takes to make them memorable, like croissants, where pastry dough is rolled together with butter, folded and rolled, again and again, and then baked at high heat to make a flaky receptacle for butter, honey or Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread.
The same is true for life well-lived. Lifelong friendships are sometimes messy, emotional affairs. They often go through ups and downs, and twists and turns, but in the end, even when separated by time and distance, they survive and even blossom, all because we were willing to put in the effort to make them work.
Life well-lived is hard work. But it is so worth the time and energy we put into it, and the lessons we learn in the process help us to go on, even in the most difficult times.
Jesus had friends who worked hard to be the people he wanted them to be, but often missed the mark. In the end, he knew that they would abandon him when he needed them the most, but he loved them anyway. At his final meal with them, he taught them his most important lessons. They were lessons about love and live and friendship. He told them this: "This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends" (John 15:12-13 CEB).
Many of our best life lessons come through the challenges we face along the way. And if we look at them with an eternal perspective, we can see how that mold and shape us to be the people God created us to be. Tackling that silly shower was a pain in the ?$#*&, but I'm happy not just with the outcome, but that we took on the challenge and we won! There is certainly a feeling of accomplishment in that.
Peace, Deb
But some things are worth the effort that it takes to make them memorable, like croissants, where pastry dough is rolled together with butter, folded and rolled, again and again, and then baked at high heat to make a flaky receptacle for butter, honey or Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread.
The same is true for life well-lived. Lifelong friendships are sometimes messy, emotional affairs. They often go through ups and downs, and twists and turns, but in the end, even when separated by time and distance, they survive and even blossom, all because we were willing to put in the effort to make them work.
Life well-lived is hard work. But it is so worth the time and energy we put into it, and the lessons we learn in the process help us to go on, even in the most difficult times.
Jesus had friends who worked hard to be the people he wanted them to be, but often missed the mark. In the end, he knew that they would abandon him when he needed them the most, but he loved them anyway. At his final meal with them, he taught them his most important lessons. They were lessons about love and live and friendship. He told them this: "This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends" (John 15:12-13 CEB).Many of our best life lessons come through the challenges we face along the way. And if we look at them with an eternal perspective, we can see how that mold and shape us to be the people God created us to be. Tackling that silly shower was a pain in the ?$#*&, but I'm happy not just with the outcome, but that we took on the challenge and we won! There is certainly a feeling of accomplishment in that.
Peace, Deb
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