Count Your Blessings

I enjoy cleaning. Not organizing. Not picking things up. I like cleaning and scrubbing. So it’s always natural for me to gravitate towards that direction. I’m the one who cleans our shower, toilets, sinks, floors, walls, doors, and the list goes on. I enjoy doing that. Every Friday I take the time to clean our restrooms. I pour the cleaner in the toilets and while that sits I spray the foamy stuff in the bathtub and let the bubbles do the work. While that’s happening I take the Clorox Wipe and wipe down the toilet. I then clean the inside of the toilet let it sit, and then scrub the shower. I rinse out the shower and flush the toilet. Now…the sink. The sink is usually the trickiest because it involves me putting things away like the toothbrush, and toothpaste. Then I clean the counter top and eventually move on to cleaning the sink itself.

All this to say, not to brag, that I take some time out to clean our restrooms every Friday. I do not do it to brag or to hold over my wife’s head that I cleaned the foulest room in the house. I do it because I enjoy it. It does occur to me, because I am human, if anyone else notices.

I was out part of the week last week and this weekly activity did not get done. My wife informed me that our three (soon to be four) year old daughter said, “eww mom the sink is yucky.” My wife told her, “that’s because daddy wasn’t here yesterday to clean it for us.”

The weekly work I do does get noticed.

I question how much attention I pay to the work God does. Do I notice it?

Do I acknowledge the cosmic events like the sun rising and setting?

Do I acknowledge God providing my every need?

Do I acknowledge God only when something is off…like the dirty sink?

Take time to thank God for the things he has done.

There is a jar at the front of the church to put a blessing God has done. I encourage you to do the same thing either at your house or put one in at church. At the end of the year we will take a moment to reflect on the good things God has done.

If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? - Matthew 7:8-11 (MSG)