Spring Cleaning

It’s the little things that matter, isn’t it?! I tackled my much-neglected refrigerator shelves last night at 2 a.m. (don’t ask) and felt the most amazing feeling of “aaahhhh”. Can you believe I could get such a sense of accomplishment, renewal and energy just by ridding the shelves of crusty old ketchup and ages-ago spills? There are several reasons, I think, that this kind of clean out helped me feel so much better. See if any of these ring true for you. For one thing, this task has such a great, visible payoff; I can instantly see the result of my work. Also, I could start and complete the job in one fell swoop. Finally, there is the joy of getting this “to do” off of my list after weeks of telling myself, “you really should clean that”. Rarely do I get to have these same results as a parent. The results of our hard work will not show up for years to come, maybe never, but we still keep working. We still read to our children daily in hopes of opening new worlds to them, building brain connections, etc. Each day we try to feed them healthful foods so that their little bodies will eventually grow big and strong. We model, daily, how to be a loving, compassionate person so that they too will make a positive contribution to our world. But parenting is not something that we mark off our list after it is “complete”. This job is ongoing and sometimes the fruits of our labor are so subtle and so far in the distant future that we get a bit weary. Imagine our wonderful God who “parents” all of us at our various stages of development (or stagnation in some cases). I am so grateful He does not grow weary of me!

After having such a wonderful feeling of satisfaction after my foray into the land of muck and mire that is my refrigerator, I decided to apply this same diligence to another area of my life. I have begun to feel a little stale in my worship practices; how could I get the same feelings of renewal and energy injected into my time with God that I received by cleaning my fridge? Well, I decided to do away with the old way I would “squeeze in” time with my Lord. Since becoming a parent, I find that the only time I spend peacefully talking to our Savior is at the end of the long exhausting day. And then, I rush through my prayers or Bible reading so that I can collapse into bed. I decided to begin my day with God rather than waiting until all I had left to give Him were the scraps of energy that I had left. What a difference! By just waking up 15 minutes earlier (5 am now instead of 5:15!) I am able to read my verse for the day, pick out one part that “speaks” to me, breathe deeply and listen for God’s voice and assurance of love. So far, this “cleaning out and making new” process has given me even more satisfaction that my sparkly fridge. You could try this, too! Pick one of your spiritual practices and start anew. Maybe you’ll change the way you say prayers with your child at night or have the dinner prayer a little differently. Try it and let me know how you feel. It may even help for you to tackle your fridge first like I did; it couldn’t hurt, right?

Blessings,
Dr. Paula