Little laundry

            Years ago I was pulling the last load out of the dryer.  In it were my grandson's clothes.  There were little shirts and little pants.  Even some little socks and underwear.  It was a pretty big load.  And as I stood there wondering how exactly one goes about folding little laundry, I began to think about my daughter.  She had my grandson while she was still in high school.  It was her senior year and it was hard.  I remember picking her up from work one day before he was born.  She had to have a job for a school program she was in.  It was at a day care facility.  As I drove up to the building I saw her carrying the garbage out to the dumpster and heaving it over.  I couldn't believe that one of the other women didn't offer to do this for her.  But that was typical of what she encountered.  Scorn.  Judgment.  A lot of turned up noses.  "You made your bed...".  "I'm glad my daughter...".

            The cost of doing what is right.  Knowing what lies ahead for you.  Realizing a lot of it is a mystery.  That little laundry made me proud.  It made me respect my daughter a bit more.  Sure I had thought of it before.  But it was hitting home again.  Right there in front of the dryer.

            How many of us would have that courage.  The courage to do what is right when you've made some wrong decisions.  The courage to say "let them talk".  The courage to love.  She could have bailed out.  Those who knew would understand.  Most would never even know.  But she stood for what she felt was right.  She had conviction.  And she stood.

            We are called to stand with this same conviction.  "Having done all, stand."  Sure, we have all made wrong decisions before.  We've screwed up.  We've made messes.  But that is now behind us.  We aren't to carry that with us and have it stop us.  Like my daughter we must say "let them talk".  The enemy wants nothing more than for us to be hesitant.  He wants us to feel that we don't have the right to stand now, having fallen before.  But it is not our strength that keeps us on our feet with our backs straight.  It is His.

            Stand.  In the face of adversity.  Stand.  When you want most to sit quietly.  To go unnoticed.  To balance on the gray line between right and wrong.  Stand.

            And some day, you'll remember your "little laundry" and you will know that He is smiling down on you.  Saying, "I'm so proud of you for standing."

SDG