Dirty Clothes

There they were again- my son's dirty clothes in front of the hamper. Well, I lost it and started screaming. Hearing my voice echoing, I realized that I was the only one home. What a waste of energy; but I was irritated and non-forgiving.
I paused and decided to calm down so I could determine an effective solution.
I sat on the edge of the bathtub looking at the dirty clothes; I thought about my son's behavior.
He was a right-brained child whose creativity was a constant adventure. He was not leaving the clothes on the floor in disobedience- his mind was probably in the middle of some seaside adventure as the bathwater filled the tub.
Finally, I decided to choose my battles and this wasn't high on the list. So why did it upset me? It was because the dirty clothes were touching the hamper and not in it... any logical... oops!
That was it, it wasn't logical. I'm an analitical personality and my son is a creative, free thinking personality. The solution: no hamper!
Now, I'm not impulsive; I had to do it quickly or I would sit and think it through.
I picked up the hamper, emptied it and took it to the dumpster.
Now, I could gather the dirty clothes from the floor, which I was doing anyway, and not get upset.

How often do we get upset over the small stuff? It just distracts us from the important things we ought to be doing and usually doesn't solve anything.

But my hamper incident didn't end there.
That evening, with bathwater running, my son called out, "Where's the hamper?"
"I threw it away."
"But I don't have anywhere to throw my dirty clothes!"
"Yes, you do- on the floor where you always throw them."
I heard him get into the tub and went back to reading my mystery. Next I knew, he walked by me in his pj's and headed down to the basement. He brought up a laundry basket "for my clothes." When he became a teen and earned his first paycheck, he bought himself a clothes hamper. He took it with him when he moved into his own place.
I never expected throwing the hamper away would fix his problem.
Years later, I realize it did because I acted outside of my "norm." That's what got his attention.

This is not child rearing advice. This Child of God advice. Is it any wonder that God uses things out the ordinary to gain our attention? How about turning water into wine or feeding thousands with only five fish? How about riding into Jerusalem on a donkey? How about being born in a stable?

Let us be watchful. Let us see the extraordinary in the ordinary things of life.

Selah-

Shalom, Connie