On My Hands and Knees

I love to clean. Now, don't click away from me for being a little strange, but cleaning the bathroom is absolutely one of my most favorite cleaning jobs ever. I guess it's because in our house, our bathrooms are always "good and dirty" and I can see the satisfaction of a job well done when I'm done mopping the hair off the bathroom floor! ;)

In my humble and personal opinion, the only way to properly mop is

1. vacuum entire area with a wet/dry vac to remove as much hair as possible
2. spray the offending floor area with cleaner
3. while the cleaner soaks and softens the layers of hairspray (at least in my house), make a scalding hot sink of soapy water
4. wipe in a back and forth motion with a flat-faced extremely hot washcloth covering the entire sprayed area, ensuring that all hair, dirt particles and other unmentionable bathroom stains are completely removed from the floor
5. scrub stubborn areas of foot funk with a magic eraser if necessary
6. move on to the next sprayed area ;)

Works like a charm every time. The bathroom smells wonderful and the floor sparkles. Ahhhh, I love a clean bathroom, especially the floor.

Now, to those of you who are shaking your heads and perhaps even wondering at the state of my mental health, I realize this is a bit extreme and I promise I'm not quite this much of a control freak in other areas of my life... okay, well, maybe a little, but I'm working on it. Anyways.... um, I really had a point to make, now what was it again... Oh! I remember! ;)

Is there a way to compare a bathroom floor to my spiritual heart? Many of you who are shaking your heads with a resounding "NO!", I beg to differ with you because, well... because I'm weird and God talks to me through bathroom floors, toilet paper and the like. ;0)

So, how are the two similar you ask? Well, let's see, there are many comparisons I could make:

1. a floor wiped clean is like our heart wiped clean by Jesus' blood
2. scrubbing up stubborn stains is like the removal of old hurts by the healing love of the Father
3. a back and forth motion to clear every particle of dirt is like Holy Spirit's gentle voice permeating every area of our lives with His peace

Now, as I was typing this, I was wondering what else the Lord was trying to get through to me, cause I didn't feel like it was an all the way finished job and suddenly, there it was... :)

A bathroom needs to be cleaned weekly, sometimes daily, depending on it's use and how much hair is involved. ;0) Why? Well, 'cause there are people using it, so new stains develop, more hair sheds and more foot funk is shared. My heart needs to be wiped, scrubbed and have a good back and forth motion everyday because I deal with people, not the least of whom is ME, MYSELF and I! My heart is an unfinished work incomplete till I get to heaven. I'm not alone and there are other unfinished hearts out there and so the funk is shared one to another and unfortunately, much more so than love... :(

I need my heart to have a gentle scrubbing by the Word, praise and worship and prayer everyday. God has to rule in my heart everyday for someone to see my authentic heart and not the one I pull out when I'm too embarrassed by the stubborn hurt that hasn't been scrubbed because I've allowed bitterness to grind in the stain or by the particles of worry that still remain because I haven't allowed the Holy Spirit's peace to completely cover me.

Everyday, it has to be everyday... thankfully, the Word of God never runs out of cleaner! ;)

"Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me." - Psalm 119:97-98