If you sweep my floor more than once with any attention to detail, you will notice that my larger than life dust bunnies accumulate in the same spaces continually. I know the secret spots they use to hide from my broom waiting to introduce themselves to any visitors that stop in for a minute. A quick sweep will get the most noticeable fur and the random clumps of play dough under the table. But a much deeper cleaning reveals these dust bunnies…no, more like dust monsters. Four years of sweeping the same house has offered me the chance to notice how they seem to tuck away under end tables and behind doorways repeatedly.
Once, a few weeks ago, I shared my observations about these dust monsters. He looked up from his iphone and said, “Thanks for telling me. Now I know where to look when I sweep next”. Back to the iphone he went.
His remarks got me thinking. Now, each time I defend my home against the attack of the dust demons, I think about how we tend to have things tucked away in our hearts and minds that require frequent removal too. In Hebrews, the writer says we should have a “sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed pure as snow”. (10:22) Similar to the corner behind my couch, sometimes we have sins that are easily hidden unless deep cleaning comes our way. During prayer, a quick rundown of our struggles gets rid of the careless remarks we made to the husband or the moments of irritation we had with the kids.
Ideally, frequent maintenance of our dust bunny collection, both in our homes and our hearts, is the best. However, sometimes we need more. Sometimes, we need to drag out the 12-vortex-power-with-no-loss-of-suction vacuum cleaner to find the bigger, meaner, dust monsters that a simple sweep won’t collect. For me, that overwhelming feeling I get is the signal for me to hang up the broom and take advantage of the afternoon nap hours in a more “eternal way”. When the dust bunnies in my heart grow to monstrous size, all has to stop in order for my defense to be accurate and complete. Usually, it requires some alone time with God and confession to a trusted friend.
My husband now knows where to look to find the toughest dust monsters in our house. To me, that’s powerful knowledge. It’s also powerful knowledge to know where the dust collects in our hearts and minds. Right now, my dust monsters hide behind the large couch called “pride” and inside the closet door called “too busy.” A rotten attitude and impatience with everyone are signs that my corners need a thorough cleaning. Sometimes our dust monsters get so big and serious, we need to allow time for deep cleaning
Where do the dust bunnies collect in your home? Where do they try to linger in your heart? What signs that reveal it’s time for a deep cleaning in your heart?
2 comments:
Hi Lindsay, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I really didn't know what to tell you. I think you are probably looking for something pretty classic. The patterns I try to use are from newer pattern designers and they don't really do classic. My favorite is Sandi Henderson. She has full color pictures and really easy to follow directions. Non of that hard-to-understand pattern language I don't speak. As for a classic style dress, I would go with McCalls or another fabric store pattern. Or, it might be really cute to make a more modern dress but use fancy fabric. You can see the SH patterns in my shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/fabricbaby
They are seriously so fun to follow and much easier than the store choices. They also have 4 different deisngs in 1 pattern.
Anyways, good luck!
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