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by Helen Grace LescheidIn a household of seven people, crowding one week's cleaning into one short day can be overwhelming, especially if you have the sudden urge to be absolutely thorough!
Last week I decided I had put up with superficial, make shift, cleaning for too long. Everywhere I looked in our ten-room home, a mess stared me in the face.
I could have sworn that the children hadn't looked under their beds for a year; the interior of the refrigerator was splattered with melted butter hardened into big waxy blobs (from when the children made popcorn). The stove was caked with gooey lumps of charcoal from the last time I baked apple pies; the big hall closet was overflowing with bags of unmatched socks (our lost and found department). Every closet in every bedroom seemed heaped with clothes and jackets that should have been on hangers; Jonathan (our four-year-old) had dumped his huge toy box in search of a piece of Tupperware animal. It was the perfect sort of mid-October day to clean windows before the early frosts!
Usually I dive right in and keep going all day at top speed. I don't even take time to eat or sit for five minutes and read the mail. I resent it if the phone rings. Hurriedly, I sneak glances at Jonathan and instruct him to "play nicely."
Before long, there's a tightness in my throat; then a painful squeezing around my heart. I can feel my pulse throbbing in my wrists and an ominous weight pushing against the top of my head. By nightfall, I am so wound up that I toss and turn and sleep fitfully, or not at all.
Well, this day also I plunged ahead, determined to make an end of all this mess. As the morning progressed, I felt a strange tugging towards the bedroom, like the tugging of a child who wants to tell me something.
"Dear Lord," I said, "I'd love to come and be with you for a few minutes, but this morning I just can't. I've got too much to do. I'm sure You understand."
The tugging persisted.
"I'll finish what I'm doing and then I'll come," I promised.
The tugging became stronger. It reminded me of our Jonathan who, when he really wants to tell me something, changes his gentle tugging to heavy pounding on my back.
Finally, I consented and went into the bedroom. I knelt down and said, "Well, here I am Lord." He showed me His delight and joy so obviously that I marvelled. He, the almighty God, glad to see me! That's neat! That's the best news I've heard," I reflected. I stayed there for a few minutes and let Him whisper His love to me over and over again.
Full of joy, and marveling at His presence, I went back to work.
In the afternoon, still up to my eyeballs in jobs to be done, the tugging returned. "But Lord," I said, "I already know that You love me and that You are with me, what more is there today?"
"Come and see," He seemed to say.
Again, I reluctantly went to the bedroom.
"Read Jonathan a story," The Voice said.
That completed. He instructed, "Now snuggle in beside him and close your eyes."
Soon, I was sound asleep. An hour later I awoke. Deeply refreshed, I returned to my work.
When my husband came home that evening he remarked, "This house has really seen a transformation. Even the window sparkle! You must have worked awfully hard today."
I smiled. It wasn't until a few days later that I shared with him what really happened.
-Helen Grace Lescheid is a freelance writer in Abbotsford, BC. She is the author of Lead, Kindly Light, Essence Publishing, Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Price in Canada: $17.95 - in USA $14.00. Order with cheque enclosed to Mrs. Lescheid, 1973 Winfield Drive #17, Abbotsford BC V3G 1K6 or P O Box 948, Sumas WA 98295. Her email address is lescheid@uniserve.com. She also has a compilation of articles in a second book, A Hope Stronger Than Our Hurts, available from her for Can$10.00.
