#write31days | October 23

Last night I did one of those chores I consistently put off for a long time, usually until the basket is nearly overflowing behind the door of my laundry room.  Ironing. I know, ironing is seemingly an ancient practice but welcome to my hang-dry life. I don’t use the dryer for too many things, especially not anything with long sleeves and definitely not any pants. So, every now and then the basket is overflowing and I have to get out the iron and catch it up.  It’s really not that big of a deal and I think why don’t I just #doitagain more regularly, instead of waiting for the basket to fill up to overflowing!?

I know exactly why:
Procrastination.

Same with the other chores that really don’t take that long.  There’s 100 other things any of us would most likely rather do. Except my little niece; she loves to clean up, dust and do chores outside. I caught her sweeping the porch the other day unprompted. 🙂

Procrastinating chores really doesn’t have any kind of long term affect on our lives. Sure, maybe you can’t run a white glove over the shelves without it returning covered in dust, or you wouldn’t eat off the floors, or maybe your toilet has a little bit of a line around the water line.  None of those carry earth shattering consequences. Let someone unexpectedly tell you they are about to stop by and those chores can all be done in approximately 15 minutes!

I’ve often heard the OHIO method to cleaning up; Only Handle It Once. Meaning don’t come home to change clothes after work and lay your clothes on the chair until you put them where they go if it’s something that can be re-worn or to the laundry if they are dirty. Don’t pick up and put things down multiple times, pick it up and put it where it goes, only handling it once. It takes less time to just handle it.

Clothes and chores are easy to procrastinate.

But, what about the things in our life that are figuratively overflowing out of the basket, collecting dust, have a little dirt on them or sitting stagnant? The ones that maybe we should just go ahead and handle, but instead we find way too many excuses or justification to avoid handling it. Those are the things that can have a lasting impact on our lives if they are left untouched.

One of these chores is forgiveness. Yesterday, I briefly touched on letting go of our baggage  because Jesus wants us to live our lives in his grace and free of the weight of our sins. We can do that by acknowledging and confessing our sins and asking him to be the Lord of our lives, then we can receive his forgiveness for our sins.

So, what about the forgiveness of others?
This can be a source of great procrastination.
It’s much easier to hold a grudge.
Keep score.
Hash and re-hash.

What would happen if we just went at the chore of forgiveness like we did changing our clothes after work? O-H-I-O.  Take care of it, let it go, move on.  Then #doitagain the next time.  Depending on the situation, you might need to work it out with someone; apologize, ask their forgiveness directly.  Other situations don’t require a face to face conversation; we just need to forgive them in our hearts and let it go. Having some big conversation isn’t necessarily going to resolve, repair or change a circumstance. Circling each situation in prayer will give guidance on how best to proceed; in person or not. If there is a hint of personal motive involved at all, keep circling before you enter into a conversation with someone.

Maybe you can think of some other “chores” to work on.  But, if you’re holding onto forgiving with a tight fist, it is worth it to truly forgive, let go and go forward.  I can promise the empty basket is much more appealing, not to mention lighter, than trying to manage continuously stuffing the basket without it overflowing.

Don’t procrastinate.
Set yourself free.
Pray circles.
Forgive.
And #doitagain.

If you’re just joining in from #write31days, I’m so glad you’re here!
You can {click here} to find links for all posts in this series.

2 Comments

  1. Jenn Y on October 24, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    Love this!! and Love you!

    • Angie Gillikin on October 24, 2018 at 5:12 pm

      Thanks for reading! ?

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