My oldest child, and only son, was notorious for his messy bedroom when he was a teenager. His sisters would complain that he had 2 piles of clothes: clean and dirty. When he forgot which was which, he would pick up a shirt from one pile, smell it and determine by the 'aroma' whether that was the clean or dirty pile.
I would leave his mess alone for weeks and then decide it was time to deliver the 'clean it up NOW' verdict. He always protested, saying it was his mess and it didn't bother him. He said it would get cleaned up, sometime. My thought was always, "By whom? Not me."
Have you ever watched the Beethoven movies about the St Bernard dog? In the first movie, there is a scene where Beethoven enters the bedroom, wet and covered in mud and filth. He proceeds to 'shake it off' as dogs do. Of course, to make the scene funnier, the mud and slime are flying everywhere and covering everything in sight. Besides making me almost nauseous, my mother's mind is silently asking, "Who's going to clean up that mess?"
There is a commercial for a certain brand of paper towels that affects me the same way. The dog is shaking mud off, the blender has just erupted its contents all over the counter, Dad spilled the coffee, the spaghetti sauce is boiling over on the stovetop and the child knocked a glass of juice over onto the floor. Now comes the best part: Mom enters and grabs a paper towel (ONE paper towel) and smilingly wipes up all the mess. Since this is TV, she has it sparkling clean in a few seconds. RIGHT!
There are 2 things inherently wrong with this picture: #1- I don't care what brand you use, you could never clean it up with one paper towel. #2- Mom is smiling. If this were real life (yes, I do realize it is not and this is a commercial) I guarantee you, even if she were applying for sainthood, she would not be smiling. She might not be using the words I might use, but she wouldn't be smiling.
I would leave his mess alone for weeks and then decide it was time to deliver the 'clean it up NOW' verdict. He always protested, saying it was his mess and it didn't bother him. He said it would get cleaned up, sometime. My thought was always, "By whom? Not me."
Have you ever watched the Beethoven movies about the St Bernard dog? In the first movie, there is a scene where Beethoven enters the bedroom, wet and covered in mud and filth. He proceeds to 'shake it off' as dogs do. Of course, to make the scene funnier, the mud and slime are flying everywhere and covering everything in sight. Besides making me almost nauseous, my mother's mind is silently asking, "Who's going to clean up that mess?"
There is a commercial for a certain brand of paper towels that affects me the same way. The dog is shaking mud off, the blender has just erupted its contents all over the counter, Dad spilled the coffee, the spaghetti sauce is boiling over on the stovetop and the child knocked a glass of juice over onto the floor. Now comes the best part: Mom enters and grabs a paper towel (ONE paper towel) and smilingly wipes up all the mess. Since this is TV, she has it sparkling clean in a few seconds. RIGHT!
There are 2 things inherently wrong with this picture: #1- I don't care what brand you use, you could never clean it up with one paper towel. #2- Mom is smiling. If this were real life (yes, I do realize it is not and this is a commercial) I guarantee you, even if she were applying for sainthood, she would not be smiling. She might not be using the words I might use, but she wouldn't be smiling.
I really don't watch much television, but I used to occasionally watch the Food Network. I would find it amusing when the 'cooks' would make their wondrous creations and always turn and place the dirty pans, bowls, whatever, in the sink behind them. I always asked in my head, "Who cleans up that mess?" Of course, you can make scrumptious things in 30 minutes, if you don't have to clean up the mess from the first course to make the second. The cooking shows aren't movies, and someone really does get paid to clean up the mess.
Have you ever wanted to sweep everything off a tabletop in frustration; again like in movies or on TV? I have. I remember one time in particular. I was 7 months pregnant with our 3rd child. I had a portable sewing machine and it had to set on the kitchen table when I needed to use it. The oldest 2 children (3 and 4) had eaten lunch and their plates, etc. were still on the table. I was sewing a maternity dress, out of striped material I thought was lovely. I was becoming frustrated with the facing, I was hot AND don't forget, I was pregnant. The cluttered table wasn't helping my mood.
As I grumbled, my husband (trying to make me feel better, presumably) said, "Why don't you just forget making it? Those stripes would make you look as big as a barn, anyway."
Since I couldn't lift the sewing machine high enough to heave it at his head and although I eyed the sharp scissors for a moment, I discarded that idea as too bloody. I really wanted to just sweep everything; sewing machine, material, plates, spoons, pin cushion, glasses, onto the floor with one swift motion. In a split second, my mind 'saw' the mess my action would make and I instantly knew WHO would be cleaning up that mess. There was no supporting cast or employees hired for the explicit job of cleaning up the mess I was contemplating.
The truth is, life is full of messes. Some of them we create ourselves, some are created around us and some have a ripple effect that makes 'messes' in other people's lives. We, (you and me and humans in general) make messes of our marriages, our friendships, our businesses, our families, our finances, our health and our relationship with God.
The glorious thing is we do not have to ask, "Who's going to clean up this mess?" Jesus cleaned up all of our messes when he shed his blood on the cross for us.
As I grumbled, my husband (trying to make me feel better, presumably) said, "Why don't you just forget making it? Those stripes would make you look as big as a barn, anyway."
Since I couldn't lift the sewing machine high enough to heave it at his head and although I eyed the sharp scissors for a moment, I discarded that idea as too bloody. I really wanted to just sweep everything; sewing machine, material, plates, spoons, pin cushion, glasses, onto the floor with one swift motion. In a split second, my mind 'saw' the mess my action would make and I instantly knew WHO would be cleaning up that mess. There was no supporting cast or employees hired for the explicit job of cleaning up the mess I was contemplating.
The truth is, life is full of messes. Some of them we create ourselves, some are created around us and some have a ripple effect that makes 'messes' in other people's lives. We, (you and me and humans in general) make messes of our marriages, our friendships, our businesses, our families, our finances, our health and our relationship with God.
The glorious thing is we do not have to ask, "Who's going to clean up this mess?" Jesus cleaned up all of our messes when he shed his blood on the cross for us.
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