Cleaning Supplies for 2013
Life gets messy and dirty. People do too. Babies… Well, that’s a whole other story. As my daughter Corin dropped off my granddaughter London with me the other day, she went through a few instructions. Most of them had to do with cleanup. She seems to have forgotten that this ain’t my first barbecue. Wipe this. Clean that. Yeah right, got it.
Just as we were transferring the car seat, London, having caught the bug that’s been going around, let out a nasty sneeze. Stuff went everywhere. In that instant, I felt like my whole world became 3-D. “Run for cover!”, I thought. Corin calmly reached into the diaper bag and pulled out a contraption called a “Snotsucker.” It’s basically a 12 inch clear plastic hose with a see-thru test tube like collection cylinder on one end and a mouthpiece (yes, I said mouthpiece) on the other. The tiny blue “filter” inside the hose did very little to slow the imagination. In my day, we had a small blue, as in NOT clear, suction ball that did the job very well. But this new thing, first of all probably doesn’t have FDA approval, or at least dads approval, and second, it’s just wrong, on so many levels. Using mouth suction like a siphon? Sure, I’ve done it with gasoline from my car, but this…was disgusting. Who decided to opt out of the battery powered idea and go with the mouth? Definitely not what I had signed up for.
She then bent over, put one end in her mouth and the other end next to London’s nose, and said, “OK, watch how I do this.” I thought to myself, “How about not.” Why would anyone wanna do that? Nevertheless, cleanup is part of the job and part of life. And this is my daughter and my granddaughter, and I love them both.
Cleanup is part of life for all of us. That day, London decided my honeymoon was over and I was gonna clean everything. Nose, face, mouth, plus #1 and #2 diapers. Bumper to bumper detail. She seemed to like the sensation of milk dripping down her face and around her neck, and that needed cleaning too. All this reminds me that this day, at the beginning of the year, it’s time for us to allow God to clean us up too.
Just as the local gyms are overflowing with new members, churches are filled with people wanting a fresh and clean start. A new beginning. Our church had the largest crowd in it’s late service history Sunday as people made a choice to start and restart this year. Friends, it begins with allowing God to search out the dirty, messy, sin stained parts of our hearts and minds, and then receive His mercy and grace through Jesus to wash away all that junk. We then determine to walk after Him and away from the mess. Done this before? Oh, me too, and I will again and again. I want to keep a clean heart and a life that reflects his holiness and grace. David prayed, Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.”
Thankfully Jesus didn’t leave us alone with the cleaning supplies. He’s also given us brothers and sisters to help. A trusted brother here and there (not a judgmental one) has helped me to the fountain of God’s forgiveness and cleansing.
FYI… Last month when my sister took an extraordinary Christmas photo of London, on close examination, I noticed a bit of sweet potatoes above her lip. I removed them…by Photoshop. The before and after pics are beautiful in my eyes… just as your before and after pics are in our Father’s eyes.