Sunday, January 13, 2013

I can't help but love it. Sometimes.


Friday I washed four loads of laundry. I don't have a laundry room, so my laundry baskets get brought up to the top of their stairs and this is the sight you would see if you rang my doorbell and I opened it up to say hello. My task on Saturday {while Chip hosted 80 people throughout the day out golfing on his new course!He has a job again. We are thankful.} was to fold and put this laundry away. I managed to get three of the four put away. As well as wash 3 more loads.
Between towels and bedding and just daily dirty clothes, there is literally never a time when I don't have piles of clean or dirty laundry sitting around somewhere at our house. It is one of those things that actually drives me crazy at the same time I love and appreciate it so much. I DO love clean, fresh folded laundry way moreso than piles of dirty stuff. But when I fold it and it piles up and I throw yet another load into my wash machine I find myself still thanking God that I get to be the mom to do this thankless job. I even pray for and am thankful for my kids and Chip who wear and dirty the clothes and towels and sheets. I think back so many times to the day I first did a load of laundry- it was several weeks after Teagan had died and I was "happy" to be getting back to doing a normal chore again. I had spent a few weeks with Wyndham and Chip in ICU, and even then when we came home from Hurley I was in a wheelchair and unable to go downstairs to do the laundry. So when that day finally came that I could do something so ordinary and something I had done over and over, I was unprepared at how different it was to wash, dry and fold clothes with Teagan's clothes not in the mix. It rocked my already grief-stricken world and I it is one of the "cries" and memories that has struck me so many times since then throughout the years. I was totally unprepared for the "missing" of her in something so routine. It made me realize how much I had taken for granted. It made me realize how much she was and always would be a part of my life. It made me realize how lucky I was to still have Chip, Brock and Wyndham and my physical abilities back to even try to resume our "normal" life once again.
My heart had ached at the loss of Teagan and all our bodies, hearts and minds were healing from. But I never knew doing laundry that day would change my persective on so many levels. I have been buried in laundry every year since then with the addition of more babies and with the growing that everyone has done through the years. But when I see baskets of laundry, on my very worst days, I still see something to give thanks for. I am ever grateful for the baskets that overflow. It reminds me of how many people I have to love and care for inmy home. It reminds me of how blessed we are to have so many things- clean water and soap to wash with, clothes to wear, closet space to put it all away- when I get around to doing that. I don't always love a lot of things in my life. But I am always trying to be better at even loving the parts that aren't always so lovable.
My word for this year is "soar". I want to soar and appreciate the stuff that is ever-present and not always so thrilling. To do so gives my heart and mind the push to be thankful for everything. Seeking to love the 'gifts' in life that we don't always think of as gifts is one of the ways I am choosing to look at life. I know I won't always have this many full baskets in my life. So that makes me even more thankful for them now. And that is the kind of thing that makes my heart soar...and makes the laundry less of a chore and turns it into a precious gift. I think it's why I enjoy stocking up on Tide as much as I do too. {Seriously, I usually keep at least 8 jugs on hand...partlt because I buy them on good sales. And also in part because it isn't surprising how much we go through it and I never want to run out!}Oh the joys of life when we just start breaking down the stuff we have and seeing it in new ways. I am not always good at it. But that's part of what makes life a good challenge too.
And now I want to know, is there something in life you can't help but love, even though most other people might think it's not all that great or fun? And what about a word for the year. Do you choose one? Feel free to share. I would love to know what you you are all focusing on for this year. xo

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I actually "like" to do laundry, but never had to do it for 8 as you do. I wish I could hang ours out on the clothes line---as I once was able to do before moving here. Our covenance doesn't allow clothes lines! I rather liked seeing the lines full of wisping items and the smell of them when I brought them in. Once our 2 kids got old enough, I added folding of laundry to their chores. It built into them a "work ethic" in my opinion. Also taught some "life skills" as well, even if it's a mundane chore as such. They only had to put away their piles and not their parents. I have been in a place (after surgeries) like you...when getting back to "normal" felt like a good thing!!

Barbara England said...

My word is Light -- to let my light shine, lighten up, follow the Light of the World, to move out of darkness into mornings. I hope you SOAR through the winter.

Rebecca said...

I strongly dislike doing laundry. I (only hehe) have four children, so the laundry PILES up. Recently, I've found a system where it's not so intimidating, but still not my favorite.

Your post has challenged me to see it as a blessing. Thank you! Color me convicted. :)

Lee said...

The first thing that came to mind when you asked what I love to do that others might find tedious is cook. Granted, a lot of people in my "inner circle" do share my appreciation for cooking, but I have had a lot of other people look at me like I'm crazy when I say how much I enjoy cooking. Not even anything complicated...it could be plain soft tacos or a pot of pasta alfredo...but that simple act of making a meal (for myself, for me and my fiance, or for others) is so satisfying. Even when something goes wrong in the cooking, that momentary stress is a welcome distraction from life.

And my word for the year? Virtue. (as in, the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31)

Happy 2013!

jenny said...

I was single until I was 33 so I am thankful for laundry too. Sometimes when I do the whites, I'm astounded at how many t-shirts and underwear. And then I just thank God that I have a MAN to do laundry for.
I also like the bed to made neatly every day. Sometimes, if my husband makes it, it's... um... not exactly how I would've done it. So there again, I just thank God that I have a MAN to make the bed so that it looks like there's a sheep in it!

Kathy said...

I enjoy picking my son up from school, waiting in that long slow car rider line. I have three children,19,17 and 13 and I have always loeved picking them up hearing about their day!! Now that my daughter is in college and my son is a Senior in high school, I only have Jacob to pick up and I truly cherish each day I wait in the car liine to see him outside his school and walk to get in the car!!! Time goes by so quickly and I know that too soon, my baby boy will be driving himself to school or riding with a friend and I will not have this time with him to hear about his day!! My word for the year is DO, as in Do MORE, DO LESS, DO WHAT I LOVE AND DO WHAT I DON'T LOVE, BUT JUST DO IT!!!

Nuts in a Tree said...

Soar! That is the word I have been thinking of for this year too...how lovely to find it here in your world. I think the everyday has always been the hardest part. There is always the fear of getting through the major events, but you prepare for yourself for those times, then something in the everyday catches me off-guard more than I ever thought it would. I don't mind the laundry...it is a blessing to have these guys and their laundry. Soar! :)

Rhonda :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this post. I have 5 children and have never thought of the daily chores as a "blessing". One chore I don't usually mind doing is the dishwasher. Mine has been broken since last spring. With a large family, the funds just haven't been there for a new one so I've learned to just enjoy doing them. Never did I think it would be that way. I used to loathe touching a dirty dish! I haven't thought about having a word for this year.

Heather said...

Hi,

I have a quick question about your blog, do you think you could e-mail me?

Heather