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Every Day is Precious: Dirty laundry gets cleansed
By ROB PAYNE For Williamson A.M.
Patti and Dave live next door to us. Before our life changed, we pretty much kept to ourselves. We waved to our next door neighbor if we happened to walk out the front door at the same time or were in our back yards at the same time. But we didn't socialize. After Marcy's diagnosis, many people took the first step and started saying ''hi'' to us first. Patti and Dave started by coming over to pray with us. Recently, Patti knocked on the door and brought in a 500-pound box of laundry detergent, a 60-gallon tub of bleach and a tankard of fabric softener. (OK, they weren't that big, but they were big.) She said, ''Everybody battles the laundry, so Dave and I thought we'd bring by some ammunition for the fight.'' Before leaving, she admitted, ''It seems strange to bring laundry detergent, but that's what the Spirit told me to do, and I said OK.'' In our prayer time, they had showed us they are Spirit-filled, God-loving and -fearing people, so this was not odd to me. What was a little bit different was that just earlier that day I had looked at the box of laundry detergent next to our washer and noted that it shouldn't be that empty. It hadn't been that long since we bought it. My mother-in-law, Karen, has been here in the house helping with Marcy, and I immediately, in my mind, judged, condemned and chastised her for using too much detergent. Doesn't she know I just lost my job? Lately I've been smelling detergent in my clothes; can't she lay off a little bit? She washes all her clothes here, too. What's wrong with her washer, her detergent, her electricity and her water? Inside, I was a raging fire of anger with brain cells ablaze. Just as Satan pushed me over the edge, God caught me as he always does. I started counting my blessings. I thanked God that Karen was able to be here to help. Even if she did it wrong (in my anal little human mind) she was helping. She is giving up her time, her life to help. Later, as I put the box of Tide that Patti brought next to the partial container of Cheer in our laundry room, I thought of how good the Holy Spirit is. Earlier that day I felt a removal or absence of Cheer, then He used Patti to turn the Tide and return me to a feeling of unspeakable joy. If you know someone in need and you can't think of a way you can help, take them something you know everyone needs and uses: laundry detergent, paper towels, toilet paper, light bulbs, anything that will keep until they need it. Don't worry about giving a brand other that what they use. The words on the package may say something to them, but your act of love will say much more.
Every Day Is Precious is a column to remind us to treat everyone we see today as if it could be the last time we see them. It is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August of 2000. Now 40 years old, she has gone from winning 5 and 10K races to being quadriplegic and on a ventilator at home. For more ways to help others, to find more about Marcy, or to receive email updates on her condition, visit www.everydayisprecious.com. Readers may contribute to her care by sending donations to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069. If you have helped someone without being asked, or know of someone who has, share it with others. Send to rob@everydayisprecious.com or to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069.
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