INSPIRASUNS

The favorite chore of all time…said no one ever. Actually, I do have a few friends that just love ironing, absolutely love it. Well, me, um not so much. Like most, I defer to the “wrinkle-free” clothing these days, especially down here in SW FL where things tend to be a little more casual. Now, having said all that, I will say, I have found a time to iron that I dearly love, indulge me for a moment as I explain 🙂

One of our older parishioners, (Claire), at church is responsible for taking the dirty altar linens home each week to wash and iron them. She is a wonderful woman and she just quietly behind the scenes performs this service to our Lord. Each Sunday the altar is adorned with beautiful white cloth’s that are nicely folded and creased, and no one even thinks about how they got there.

Well, a month or so ago, Claire headed out on vacation to visit her family. I was on altar guild duty the Sunday after she left and as I was putting the dirty linens in the collection tub, our rector remembered, “Oh my goodness Claire is on vacation for the next three weeks”. I opened up the tub and peered in to see if there was anything scary in it. Nah, pretty harmless I thought. “I’d be happy to take over cleaning these until she comes back”, I boldly declared. Our rector didn’t flinch and just said, “That would be such a help, thanks so much”.

So, I loaded up that week’s linens and trotted home to tackle this special ministry. I carefully checked each cloth, looking for communion wine or other stains, and added the spot remover. Then into the washer in a load by themselves, they went. Next, I carefully made the transfer to the dryer, inspecting each one to make sure the spots had come out.

Now it was time, time for the folding and ironing to make the beautiful creases I see each Sunday. I must say this was harder than I thought it would be. You see, each cloth has a cross dead center of it. You have to fold the cloth in thirds in each direction so that when flipped over the cross is center of the folded cloth. Well, me and my type A personality… I was folding and refolding just a hair here and there, until finally, I ironed and made those creases. Ya, it probably took waaaay longer than it should have and waaay longer than Claire takes being a pro at this. But I was very satisfied with the results 🙂

I bring all this up just simply to share that while I spent the three weeks taking care of these special linens, I was talking and serving our Lord. Yes, it was a very simple task that took very little time, relatively speaking, (even with my type A side), but it was a time to reflect on my love for Father. This simple task had me laser-focused on what I was doing and why I was doing it. Not many tasks in this world, especially right now, have people laser-focused.

So, on this Sunday morning, I encourage you to think about some little things you can be doing to serve God. You don’t need to look at anything complicated. Perhaps it’s weeding a garden with a friend, volunteering for Meals on Wheels, or maybe you volunteer to visit a senior living facility and read to the residents. Take some time to visit a VA hospital and play cards with a veteran. Or maybe volunteer at a local foodbank. Whatever the task, spend time with Father, and be focused for just that little bit. Trust me, you’ll come away feeling a little different inside 🙂

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.