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| Photo Credit: imelenchon at morgueFile.com |
The other day, I noticed that our freezer just wasn’t
all that cold. The popsicles were melting and the waffles
were half-thawed. The fridge/freezer is
just something we take for granted around here…day in and day out it keeps our
food at just the right temperature for us.
On any given day, I absolutely do NOT think about our fridge or freezer
really…that is…until something is wrong with it.
So, after chatting with the hubby and
trouble-shooting what we thought it could possibly be, we decided to call my
dad.
We always call him for stuff like this.
We know that he’ll lead us in the right direction. He just has a knack for small engine repair and
anything that has a motor really.
The first thing he asked me to do was to check the
small black coils in the front bottom of the fridge under that plastic panel
thingy (my own highly technical terms).
Here’s the conversation:
“Okay, so I just popped off
that black plastic piece you told me about,”
I said.
“Do you see the black
coils?” he asked.
“Nope. No black coils.” I responded.
“Are you sure?” he inquired.
“Yep. I’m sure,”
I answered.
“When was the last time you
vacuumed under there?” he asked.
“Um, let’s see – we bought
it in 2005, so, um…never,” I replied.
“Well, maybe the coils are
hidden, you know, under the seven years worth of lint,” he jokingly suggested.
“Ooooohhhhh. Oopsie,” I answered, “we’ll get right on
that.”
“Vacuuming that lint is a
great place to start,” he offered. “It
won’t run correctly if air can’t get through.”
“Of course. Thanks, Dad.
Love you!”
So, there ya have it.
If anything, here is your gentle reminder to get that dust and lint off
of those coils before you have a problem (the coils ARE there…I assure you). And, for all of the regular Sips followers,
you know I have something to tie this into, right?
The build-up of lint over the years was slowly
sucking the life out of our refrigerator/freezer. Sounds a lot
like the build-up of anger and grudges and our unwillingness to forgive…it
basically sucks the life out of us over time.
It suffocates us and prevents us from living a life of true peace
and…fresh air.
Broken relationships. Resentment. Jealousy.
Envy. Anger. Forgiveness.
Love. There
are SO many things I can't wait to chat with Jesus about...
In the meantime, in chapter 5 of Matthew,
I always find comfort.
(verses 6-12) "Happy are those who long to be just and
good, for they shall be completely satisfied. Happy are the kind and
merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Happy are those whose hearts are
pure, for they shall see God. Happy are those who strive for peace - they
shall be called sons of God. Happy are those who are persecuted because
they are good, for the Kingdom
of Heaven
Loving our enemies. The. hardest. thing.
in. the. world. to. do. It’s so much easier to just love the people
who love us back, you know?
Here is someone’s response to a YouTube
video about loving our enemies: "Just because you
start to love your enemies doesn't necessarily mean you have to build
relationships with them. You can actually love them from a distance
instead. Loving them doesn't mean that
you have to listen to negativity from them either. The best thing to do
is to wish them no harm and pray for them. Staying away might be best if
they cause you to stumble." This isn’t bad advice, especially if we have
tried countless times to reach out to someone and make amends and they refuse
our hand. As they say, you can lead a
horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
But, there is another chapter in Matthew
that also hits home: (18:21-22) Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Sir, how often
should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?
"NO!" replied Jesus, "seventy times seven!"
Seventy times seven times!
Really? Ugh. Forgiveness.
Jesus explains to us in black and white terms what we are to do. No
gray area. Poo!
The great news is that love and
forgiveness can build bridges. Jesus NEVER said they would be easy bridges to build. Not
once. Dang it! But, if God is always at
the center of our response, we can't fail. If we let our human weaknesses
creep in (anger, the I’m-right-you’re-wrong mentality, jealousy, etc.), that’s
when we struggle and fail.
To keep the “lint” from building up, we need to take time to “clean house.” To start the clean-up process, we need to pray. We need to call upon our heavenly “Dad” for guidance, like where we should even start. It can be overwhelming. We need to work on forgiveness...every single day. We neglected our fridge for seven years…WAY TOO long!! See what happens?
I once heard this comparison:
Say someone really agitates us at our place of work…(it could happen…) Sometimes, we harbor anger against them and let
them get to us while we’re at work, while we drive home, and even when we get
home. When we just aren’t able to “let
it go” and we keep the anger and hurt alive, it’s like we invite them into our
home day after day to have dinner with our family. Now, while this would be a great gesture, it
would be even more wonderful if we had forgiven them before they joined
us. I mean, if we’re going to invite
them (figuratively speaking, since they
are always on our mind), the dinner would be much more pleasant if we had
forgiven them first, right?
We can also ask for Mary's intervention -
how did she POSSIBLY see her Son's persecutors and not want to go out there and
show them no mercy!
Right?! Now, there's a woman's footsteps to follow. Mary can give us the peace and strength we
need. We should ask her…beg her…and let her in.
Once we work on removing the years of
“lint,” breathing becomes a little easier. We won’t have to
struggle as much in our day-to-day activities if the “lint” isn’t so thick. Lint just has a way of building up over
time. It can choke us. It takes great effort just to function at times
if too much lint is in our way.
Get rid of
the lint! And, don’t forget to call “Dad” while
you’re at it! Our Heavenly Dad is just a phone call…um…prayer…away!
He’s extremely busy, BUT, He always answers. Oh, and don't worry,
He has caller ID!
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