I spend a large part of my time on this earth doing laundry.  I know that God must have some reason for all of the laundry, that there must be something more He wants me to get from this daily toil.

Here are some life-lessons I have extracted from the endless loads of laundry that I deal with every day:

Life is Like a Load of Laundry

 1.  Sometimes you have it all together.  Everyone’s clothes are washed and folded and put away, and you feel really good about the laundry situation in your home.  You think, “Man, I have this thing called laundry figured out.” You feel smug and wonder why everyone else complains so much about doing laundry.  But…

2.  Some days there are people crying because they don’t have the pants they want, your husband sheepishly informs you that he needs a button-down shirt washed, dried, and ironed (with heavy starch) in three minutes, and you realize that your children have been wearing pajamas for two days (not because they want to, but because they have no clean clothes).  That moment when you had the laundry handled? A distant memory.

3.  Just when you think you’re caught up, someone throws something in the dirty clothes basket.  Maybe your kid has an accident, your husband spills his coffee on his shirt, or your mom’s washing machine breaks and she brings all her dirty laundry to your house. Better yet, you look under your son’s bed to find two weeks worth of dirty socks, underwear, and pajamas.

4. It can overwhelm us.  A funny smell may be coming from the laundry room, or, God forbid, the washing machine breaks.  The obstacles can seem insurmountable.

5. A laundry crisis will show you who will really be there when you need them.  A couple of months ago I had 6 loads of laundry piled on my bed, ready to be folded.  I texted some of my friends to see if they would come help me, but they all informed me that they had their own laundry to do and that I would have to handle this on my own.  So I called in the big guns: my mom.  And you know what? She came over and totally folded all of that laundry.  Guys, your mom will do your laundry when no one else will.

Isn’t this such a picture of life? Sometimes we have it together and sometimes we don’t, but we will NEVER get caught up.

Above all else, when you just can’t handle it anymore, call your mom.