Inspired by Laundry

Laundry is a chore that I've never really minded all that much. There's something comforting to me in the warmth of clothes that smell like dryer sheets and organizing them into piles. I do love categorizing things and containerizing them...a strange little quirk of mine. Anyway, lately though, now that there are three little monkeys to keep up with, the laundry duties seem to be ever increasing. One little monkey in particular has an issue with binging his milk all over his bibs, burp cloths, sleepers, sheets, and whatever else might be in his path. I'm not naming any names or anything, but it's a certain chunka-monka who despite his tendancy to lose his lunch, still has the most gorgeous rolls on his thighs and dimples for elbows I have ever seen! But I digress.

So, I spend a lot of time folding the kids' clothes, my clothes, Mike's clothes, the towels...you know the drill. It's becoming less sexy to me to categorize and containerize since it seems a never-ending task. I was inspired the other day by a blog post that a friend posted on Facebook to a friend who was complaining about laundry and have been trying to improve my attitude about folding the clothes and about other chores that I just seem to find tedious and brain-numbingly dull. The mom who wrote that blog entry was also having trouble getting motivated to do this task and she also was finding it difficult to find time to pray. She felt like she was neglecting to pray for her children and husband. Somehow she was inspired to combine the two. Each time she folded a piece of laundry, she prayed for the person to whom it belonged. I love this idea!

So, today, as I was folding the children's mountain of clothes, I shut off the part of my brain that usually grumbles, "Man, why do I have to do this? When do the kids start doing chores? I didn't get a master's degree to be a maid," yada yada yada...insert ungrateful thought here. Instead, I focused on the moment and what each tiny sock, footy pajama, bib, or dress symbolized. My prayers sounded something like this:

As I folded Xavier's bib covered in teddy bears and sporty balls, "Lord, please let Xavier find fun in athletics and help him to be a good sport."

As I bound together Mikey's socks, "Father, please help Mikey to run the good race and be dedicated to you."

As I grouped Celia's girly dresses, "God, please help Celia to celebrate true feminity and the gifts that you give only to women."

The prayers went on from there and made the event a really positive experience for me and hopefully a blessing to the family, too. Now if I can just find a way to turn diaper changes into prayer, I'll be set.