Giant Piles of Laundry

I don’t know what Monday morning looks like in other homes, but in ours it’s a little crazy.  Each week without fail, I find myself facing a giant mountain of laundry, dishes that have piled up, and a house that is in desperate need of being tidied.  Last night as I rolled around trying to get to sleep I was bombarded with more than the usual dose of anxiety when contemplating all that would need to be accomplished in the coming days.  I knew for certain that due to our 2 week camp out in the basement while our floors were refinished , my laundry mountain was going to be even higher than usual.  I was worrying so much that I was starting to feel sick.  This is nothing new for me, but what happened next was new.  Instead of rolling around for a few more hours I simply prayed.  I did what I have been told to do so many times, and what I have told others to do so many times.  I told Jesus all of my worries, all of my fears, and then I just listened.  I’ve done plenty of the “telling Jesus” part before, but it’s the second part, the listening, that I have trouble with.  This time, by the grace of God, I listened, and He answered.  The answer was simple.  Just do it.  Do one little thing at a time.  So there it was, a simple solution, followed by peace and sleep.  This morning when I woke up and it was time to face the monstrous heap of laundry, I dug right in, and I felt good.  While my laundry room still looks like I need to do laundry, the piles are of normal size now, and it is easy to see how simple living out God’s plan really can be.  He is not asking for huge things to be done and certainly not all at once.  He is simply asking us to do all the little things that He gives us in our day to day vocation, and to do them well and with joy.  When we look at the laundry, the piles of dishes, and the to-do lists He wants us to see them as opportunities to show our love for Him.  He wants us to be humble and realize that without Him we can accomplish nothing, but with Him we can do all things.  He doesn’t give up on us when He sees how much work needs to be done in our souls.  Instead, He waits patiently for each and every opportunity we give Him to shape and mold us into the persons He created us to be.  I realized today that I am God’s giant mountain of laundry.