I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Wednesday morning during one of my family's ever-chaotic attempts to get out of the house. I was in multi-task mode; trying to pull brushes through the girls' hair and push them in the direction of the car when I maneuvered my foot to pull my clog from the cubby by the exit.
As I slipped my sock into it, I found something I wasn't expecting — a gelatinous pile of cold brown goo. And the way my stomach was feeling, I wasn't about to do the sniff test. "Phil," I squealed to my hubby who was loaded down with all the bags for the day, "I think that Kozmo (our very affectionate, yet extremely overweight, bulimic cat) puked in my clog."
As we tried to decipher the sheer logistics it would have taken for Koz to be in the location of the clog and spew at the intended trajectory to get all the goo inside the shoe and not on the surrounding cubby or carpet, we made a discovery. My youngest daughter at the time had dumped a sippy cup filled with chocolate milk (now a stinking cheese like substance) at the back of the shoe storage unit. Luckily most of the contents had fallen into the clog.
In retrospect of the rush, I could have easily said: "Oh, well, it's a part of life, squishy brown goo happens." Or "I don't have time to try to clean it up till tomorrow." Better, yet "If I go with another pair of shoes people might think something is out of whack because nothing else coordinates with this outfit!"
It was a no-brainer what the steps were to make it right.
Step one: Remove foot from clog. Step two: Remove sock and leave for Phil's next round of laundry. Step three: Wash foot. Step four: Find new sock and shoe options … all in three minutes or less.
So many times in the hurry of life we walked out the door, trying to pretend that the squishy brown goo that clogs up our lives doesn't exist. All the while it's seeping from our shoes. And in time, we get content with the feeling—it's not squishy brown goo…it's warm sand between my toes as the people around us are secretly whispering, "Did something just die?"
When I think about the sacrifice that Christ made, I was drawn back to the clog moment. To live a transformed life is to die to oneself. To live in Him means not being content with the squishy brown goo, whether it be a result of fostering unhealthy relationships, destructive behaviors, negative thoughts and the list goes on. The squishy brown goo should make us feel uncomfortable.
And the steps to make it right are all written out:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9, NIV).
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus." (Acts 3:19 NIV)
This is dedicated to the season of Spring Cleaning, our thoughts, our calendars, and our spiritual lives so we can embrace all that God has called us to be. And I don’t know about you, but I'm glad God has a lot of new shoes and fresh socks in stock!