Framing My Dirty Laundry

Ah, dirty laundry. We all have it. It sits in piles and lurks in dark closets. It hides away from public scrutiny and makes us feel overwhelmed and just generally lousy. It tends to taunt us. It's never ending, never goes away and therefore always makes us feel as though we don't quite have it all together, that our work is never quite accomplished and that we've failed somehow to do our job.

But dirty laundry is there for a reason. It's there because life is happening. It is not a sign of our failure to subdue it, but rather of our continued blessing and growth. I know I go through a ton of laundry in our house because I have a husband and three little ones (one of whom still spits up on himself on a regular basis and is in cloth diapers). My dirty laundry is a sign that I have been blessed and that life has been lived in those clothes.

Here's a laundry room epiphany for you. We all have dirty laundry in a figurative way too. You know, those things that people don't readily see. Things that keep you from appearing to have it all together. Maybe you don't talk about it because it makes you feel shame. Maybe you just don't talk about it because you prefer to focus on the "nicer" things about yourself. And I'm not for any second suggesting you tear yourself apart, much less in public. However, here's something to consider.

In the past few months I have had many people ask me how on earth I have it all together. How do I do all that I do. I've even been called "supermom". If for one second you have thought that I have it all together, please let me ephatically state that this is incredibly untrue! I don't intend to decieve anyone, but I suppose it's only human nature to not immediatly discuss your shortcomings.

However, just as with literal dirty laundry, our figurative dirty laundry serves a purpose as well. Our shortcomings, failures, shame are all a sign of life happening. There isn't a single one of us who doesn't have it. We are continually stumbling, failing, picking ourselves back up, dusting ourselves off just in time to fall flat on our faces again. But each time we fall and pick ourselves back up, we've learned. We've lived one more day of life. We've gained a bit more experience and we're a bit more valuable to the world around us.

This is because God is shown most powerfully in our weaknesses. When we see our "dirty laundry" for what it truely is, a sign of life- a blessing of another day lived and experienced, we are able to better understand God's grace to us in saving us and continually making us more like Him through our struggles.

If we hug our struggles to save ourselves embarrasment we are cheating others and ourselves. For instance, I struggle with getting up in the morning. I am NOT a morning person. I have the best of intentions. I give myself incentives to get up early. I KNOW that it makes life far easier when I do get up early. I know that I could get a lot more accomplished if I started earlier in the day. I have tried different routines, different tactics to pursuade myself to get up. Nothing doing. I hate it.

Oh, the agony of the proverbs about the dangers of sleeping in. Now, mind you, I don't often get to sleep IN. But oh how I want to! There are mornings that I drag myself out of bed only to spend the entire morning looking for an opportunity for a nap, or daydreaming about bedtime. What an awful way to waste your life!
Sometimes I am just downright lazy. I just don't want to put forth the effort to finish cleaning before bed. I'm too tired to workout. My bed is too warm and cozy to put my feet on the floor and make a good breakfast for my family.

Yes, I'm getting better, a little at a time. But only because of God's conviction in my life and my desire to perform my duties to the best of my ability-to bless my family and glorify my God. This desire is the only thing that can possibly drag my sorry rear end out of bed in the morning.

Now, you've seen a teensy tiny portion of my dirty laundry. And chances are, someone reading this also has the same stinking pile in their own closet. Maybe they're seeing getting up early differently since reading about my struggle. Maybe they're seeing some hope. Or maybe they're way past me in overcoming their laundry pile. Maybe they have some valuable insight into conquering my sleepies and would like to share. Or maybe we can just encourage each other in our fight against supercomfybed-itis.

So in hopes of sharing the way that God is working in my life, I will attempt to reveal a piece of my dirty laundry every so often. It won't be easy. No one likes to put themselves out there or make themselves vulnerable. But I truely believe that I'm not the only person in the world that has things they wrestle with. Your struggles may be different from mine, but they are there just the same. Sure some people may think less of me, but that's alright. If you find me to be undeserving of your admiration, respect, love, friendship- at least find my God to be loving, merciful and all the more amazing for His willingness to redeem me. After all, my life is nothing if not in Him.
So if it means His glory, I will frame my dirty laundry and hang it on the wall. May all who see it see the mercy and grace of Him who saved me and sanctifies me a bit more each day.