life, laundry, and the pursuit of happiness

There is an element of realness that is often absent in a blog. Without meaning to I think our blogging selves can look somewhat better than our real selves. We take lots of carefully framed images, pick our favorite one(s), and we may or may not edit it to perfection before posting it for our readers. We write about the "good stuff" and we sometimes unknowingly create this facade on the internet.

I had someone recently ask me a question that truly humbled me... The question was, "Now that you are married and running your own household, what is something that you wish you had prepared better for before you were married?" The truth is, there are lots of things I wish I had prepared more for! My mom was/is an incredible example. She demonstrated daily what it meant to be a godly wife and mother and an excellent homemaker. I learned from her, I read books, and I tried to get hands-on experience in areas that I thought would help me better prepare to serve my future family....
A wise woman once told me that all the preparation in the world would never teach me the life lessons that the "real-thing" would. I am finding that statement to be very true. Yes, the skills I developed before marriage were/are a huge blessing, but marriage has shown me that I still have so much more to learn.

One area that I constantly fail in is...get ready for this...it is so embarrassing...actually, totally humiliating....y'all, it's LAuNDry. There, I said it. I grew up in a family of nine and my mom never let the laundry get out of hand. She washed and dried multiple loads daily. I only have myself and my husband to do laundry for and I always have a pile of clothes that need to be folded. My chest of drawers looks like a tornado went through it and if we have company I am that girl that throws the unfolded clean clothes into the closet and slams the door. I know...it's terrible.

The thing is, my husband could care-a-less about my spotless kitchen, sparkling bathroom, or a clutter free house. My man loves clean laundry and he likes it folded like a marine drill instructor is going to inspect it. Cleanliness is way more important to me than folding clothes, but not for Daniel.
Laundry was used to teach me a life lesson....
Laundry was used to teach me that it is important to put aside my priorities and seek to please my husband. It has caused me to look at other areas in our marriage that I may be focused on doing things my way instead of focusing on being the help-meet that Daniel needs me to be. No, the world won't come to an end because the laundry isn't done, but I've been neglecting to show love to Daniel in a very simple way. I'm finding that the process of dying to oneself begins with the little things.

So far marriage has faithfully shown me how truly flawed I am. God is using this powerful sanctification tool to give me a spirit of humility, to show me my need for His grace and mercy, and to draw me ever closer to Himself.

"Selflessness: A quality that when becomes part of our lives, produces as an outgrowth individuals who are happy in their relationships with others and at peace with themselves and those around them."

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4

xoxo

mckenzie gentry