It's good sized, but that's not it -- the problem is that I haven't really given it a thorough clean in years. I've been washing everything... walls, windows, blinds, curtains, mirrors, tiles, faucets, the insides of cabinets, as wells as everything in the cabinets -- You get the picture.
I can't believe the amount of dust that collected. How did I miss that? Really? Then again... maybe I just didn't want to see it? I only have so much time in a day. Who wants to spend it cleaning the bathroom?
Of course I clean my bathroom regularly -- scrub the toilet, mop the floor, windex the mirror, etc. etc. Well -- sort of. I guess I really just "maintain." That's when you continually tidy up so it always looks okay. I always thought that was sufficient. At a quick glance it always seemed just fine. But after today, I've come to the conclusion -- that wasn't enough!
I was really thinking that I had to repaint the woodwork in there. Today, I discovered that the woodwork doesn't need painting at all. It just needed a good scrubbing! As I got down on my hands and knees and began attacking the grout on the tile floor, all these thoughts were going through my mind. I remembered my sister's comments from the other day regarding "cobwebs" and "dust bunnies" in the prayer closet.
Oh my gosh! Have I neglected cleaning
my prayer closet as well?
Have I been thinking all is just fine,
when in reality the dust is building up?
I also noticed that wiping things down doesn't cut it. I had to put a little elbow grease into it! When I sprayed things and wiped them with a paper towel, they looked okay until I looked closer. I was settling for a dull, gray finish. When I took the time to be meticulous --Woolah! What a difference!
"meticulous" means...
showing great attention to detail,
very careful and precise.
Perhaps that's the lesson for today...
To be meticulous with things of importance.
At first I thought, "Of course my prayer closet is clean!" After all, it's not like I haven't been praying. But then again... just the other day, didn't I say that I had found "Old Pentecostal Prayer" in the back of the closet -- something I hadn't used in decades? When I was cleaning one of my bathroom cabinets, I rediscovered a hair dryer specifically for curly hair. I had completely forgotten that I even had one of those. See what I mean? Same thing.
As I focus on prayer, this last quarter of The Red Shoe Project, I'm finding a lot of old favorites that I had forgotten about. They are still relevant and powerful! When and why did I push them to the back?
Did I hit a season of weariness
that turned into 2, 3 and 4 seasons
of "tidy, maintenance praying"
that just got me by?
It doesn't take long to forget what you have packed away, does it? Well I'm taking them out, cleaning them up and putting them back to use. I refuse to just wipe them off! I'm vacuuming off the dust, scrubbing them clean and reminding myself how they work.
These last couple days I have focused on the bathroom, but I have already begun an all out cleaning of my prayer closet. I'm excited about what I've already discovered and I am anticipating treasures that I never knew existed -- Powerful weapons that He has hidden for me to find. Some old -- Some new. Things that will make my life a lot easier. Things that I really can't do without.
What about you? Come on! Are you ready for an adventure yourself?
In the Prayer Closet,
in Red shoes,
Gail
