Laundry – Loads of Love
Laundry. A dirty word. Literally.
As a young wife and mom (of four little stair steps), laundry often overwhelmed me and added stress to my super busy life. Parenthood, of course, comes with added stresses, so I just muddled through the dreaded chore because ultimately we all HAD to have clean clothes and towels.
One day my youngest (and the only boy in the bunch) followed me to the laundry room toddling along beside me. We opened the dryer and removed a load of towels placing them in a laundry basket. He put his little hands into the warm, freshly laundered towels and said, “bath?”
One single word changed my perspective on laundry just like that. What had I been thinking? This was more than blue jeans and onesies. Far more precious than bibs and washcloths. This was love in action. Caring for my tiny humans who could not care for themselves. Loads of love, not laundry.
And, so it began. My quest to love laundry. Piles of it. After all, we were a family of six. I embraced my laundry the same as a kid in a candy store. My son was often my sidekick in the laundry room adopting the role of assistant in charge of getting the wet laundry into the dryer, placing a fabric softener sheet on top of it and safely closing the door.
As my children grew and my son lost interest, laundry was often tackled while they were in school. And, as they took on new and exciting activities (football, baseball, cheerleading, tennis, dance, etc.), the loads increased. But it never overwhelmed me. Not even if I was washing something of high importance or ultra stinky at midnight.
I learned to pray over the loads of love throughout the years – for protection during sporting events and adventurous activities; for clarity of thought during tests at school; for peer pressure to never win; for their teachers, coaches, mentors; and for them to be God-centered little people always pointing people to Him.
My laundry loads are less these days with my kiddos all being in their twenties. But anytime someone needs mom to do a load of laundry, my heart smiles. I’m always up for loads of love.
How do you tackle your family tasks that seem overwhelming? For loads of laundry hacks visit Pinterest.
