Amanda and I drove over to her apartment today to check on the changes that are being made and to measure walls.  The apartment has been undergoing some rennovations to make it barrier free.  A man who works at the building stopped by to talk to us and answer any questions we had.  There were several small issues regarding things like moving a light switch so Amanda could reach it and a door being in the way of Amanda’s wheelchair manuevering.  But basically, the apartment was in pretty good shape.  Amanda spoke up and said that there was one more thing she wondered about.  I was a little surprised that she had something else to mention, since we had already mentioned everything, so I was a little wary as to what she was going to say.  This man and I both paused and waited for her to speak.  She hesitated for a second and almost thought not to mention it, but then bravely asked, “Could you put in a clothes chute?” 

Now where did that come from?

I laughed and reminded Amanda that we were on the ground floor of an apartment building that did not have a basement.  Where were the dirty clothes going to ‘chute’ to I asked.  She thought for a moment then murmured, “Oh!  Never mind.” 

Amanda is a creature of habit.  Amanda’s bathroom at our house where she changes her clothes has a clothes chute.  I suppose she was just trying to make her apartment as much like her current home as possible, including the routine of dropping the dirty clothes down the chute! 

The scenerio made me ponder more on laundry or clothes chutes.  I don’t believe they are put into many of the new construction homes today.  Too bad.  They are so darned convenient!  Take off the old dirty clothes and make them disappear down the chute!  That made me think of dirty laundry.  Not the kind we feed to our clothes washer but the personal matters we all have that could be embarrassing if made public.  So then that made me think of my book.  (Laurel – did you have too much caffiene today?  Where are you going with this?)  Folks, I really got personal in telling my story of the past 29 years.  There’s some real dirty, honest thoughts in there.  The kind of thoughts that you try to squelch and hide because you don’t really want to be talking about the ‘what-ifs’.  (sigh)

It would be great if all the bad, all the goofs and blunders, all the negative thoughts, the mistakes, the sins, and the “oops’s” we make in life could disappear down the chute.  But sometimes the bad makes clear the path to good.  Maybe my dirty laundry will make you feel more comfortable about yours! 

Bless her heart – Amanda simply wanted her own laundry chute!

just Laurel

Isaiah 43:18  Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past! (Throw that dirty stuff down the laundry chute!)

Psalm 51:2  Wash away all my iniquity  and cleanse me from my sin. (Do the laundry – ask for forgiveness!)