Laundry daze

My least favorite job is laundry. With a family of seven, mountains of dirty clothes reach for the ceiling every Sunday evening when the clothes get sorted. I am a "get it all done in one day" type as opposed to a "one load a day" gal because I think I would be compelled to run away from home if I had to stare at it each and every day!

The worst thing about laundry is that it is NEVER done. A half-full basket of clothes usually greets me as I fold and put away the weeks clean laundry, leaving me feeling a bit discouraged.

To keep myself "motivated", I purposely sort the clean piles of clothes on the family room couch where I can see it, this way it bugs me enough that I put it away; otherwise it would hide in a corner for a week until the next laundry day started!

I have been a stay-at-home-mom for almost 17 years and during that time my biggest struggle has been with discontentment. I believe that discontentment is a fundamental part of the human condition and no matter what we do, we will fail to be satisfied unless we develop and strive towards a vision for our life. God has given my husband and I the vision of a one-income, homeschool lifestyle where, rather than material goods, we reap the rewards of time and relationship within our family.

Laundry is just a small part of the division of labor my husband and I have agreed upon in order to achieve our dream of being close and having free time together, and because of this I can do it with a willing heart. But, I will be glad tomorrow morning when all the clean clothes are put away, and it will be five whole days before mountainous piles begin to cover my family room floor!

Where there is no vision, the people perish.
-Proverbs 29:18