The Clotheslines versus The Pool

Let me clearly state for the record that I hate doing laundry.  It is without a doubt my least favorite household chore, and it never seems to end.  The only thing that used to make it somewhat tolerable was that I had clothes lines in my back yard.  During the warm months of the year I would take my laundry loads outside, hang them methodically (and very artistically, I might add) on those lines, then watch them float in the breeze for a few hours before I retrieved them.  The smell of those freshly line-dried articles of clothing and household linens was intoxicating.  I always drew a great sense of accomplishment in seeing the lines full and imagining that my neighbors were looking at them with great envy wishing they, too, could make their Fruit of the Looms part of such a marvelously crafted work of art.  Enter the swimming pool.

I have always wanted a swimming pool.  A couple of years ago the finances presented themselves unexpectedly and we were able to purchase a very nice, 28-foot diameter above ground pool for our backyard.  I would say that I love swimming, but the truth of the matter is more that I love floating... floating effortlessly around that pool on my inflatable Lazy Boy, allowing all my cares and concerns to be sucked into the filter, with an accompaniment of assorted bugs, never to return to sight.  My cousin, Katherine, told me I love the water so much because I was born under the astrological sign of Pisces, the fish.  Whatever.  I suppose that might be true, but if I accept that explanation I'm left wondering why my husband, who was born under the sign of Leo, has never once contemplated chasing down an antelope to bring home for dinner.

At any rate, when we discussed purchasing the pool, Bob said to me, "There is only one place it can go, and that means I'll have to take your clotheslines down, honey."  That was a bitter pill to swallow.  There I was faced with a choice I would have to make... bedsheets that looked like the sails of the America's Cup on a sunny day, or the sound of rhythmic, circulating waves of water beckoning me in under the promise of warm rays of the sun basking over me.  My choice was the pool.  Since I never really liked the initial stages of doing the laundry-- the sorting, the hand washing, the energy expended in getting one basketful of dirty items after another out of the hamper and into the laundry room-- it wasn't all that tough a choice to make.  I weighed my priorities and quickly opted for the one I felt would give me the biggest bang for my buck in the satisfaction department.  To this day I do not regret my choice.  In fact, last year I purchased a large folding rack at an Amish store that I can easily set up on my deck for drying towels, wet swimsuits, and other miscellaneous items whenever I want.  Seems like the best of both worlds to me.

And so it is with much of life.  We are faced daily with choices and priorities.  How do we spend our time?  With whom do we associate most often?  Where does our money go?  Each of us must determine our priorities and act in accordance with them lest we allow someone else to take hold of that for us and we find ourselves neck deep in commitments we never intended to make and jobs we detest performing.

I often hear people in church circles discussing the small number of Christians who choose to make their walk with the Lord a priority in life.  Statistic after statistic will tell us that about ten percent of a church's membership (any church) does about ninety percent of the work there.  Why should that be the case?  It's because of the priorities people hold in their lives.  People will always make time to do those things they truly want to do;  they will make sacrifices to have the things they really desire in life.  They will choose the pool over the laundry lines because that is what is most important to them.

Recently, a young woman in my doctor's office informed me she was leaving her secure position to move to Atlanta, Georgia and be part of a new church plant in the inner city there.  She had chosen to sacrifice the security of a well-established paycheck and familiar surroundings, to leave friends and acquaintances, even to uproot her son and mother (who lives with her) for an unknown future in a different state.  As we talked, I came to see the desire that burns in her heart to make a difference for Jesus Christ in people's lives.  She was excited at the prospect of what lay ahead and energized by the possibilities of this new endeavor to spread the Word of God and impact others.  She had made a conscious choice to place the values of eternity ahead of the values of this world.  Courtney set her priorities and is living them out in Atlanta, and I have great respect and admiration for her.

Ultimately, no one can set priorities for someone else.  We must each decide what really matters to us and then choose.  No one can really "have it all" in this life.  Something will suffer for attention and things will be left undone.  What matters is not what we choose to leave behind, but we we choose to embrace ahead.  If the possessions and opportunities of this life take precedence over those things which impact eternity, we need to carefully reassess our priorities.  Our salvation is not earned by anything we do... "For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved through your faith.  And this salvation is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God; not because of works, lest any man should boast."  (Ephesians 4:8-9)  However, our eternal rewards will be determined by the choices we make in this life, the priorities we set for ourselves.  "But seek first of all His kingdom and His righteousness, and then all these things taken together will be given you besides." (Matthew 6:33)

So, what will it be for you?  The swimming pool or the clothes lines?  The Sunday morning worship service or the kids' soccer game?  The chance to teach at Vacation Bible School or the quiet evening at home spent watching CSI Miami reruns?  Choose wisely, my friends. 

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and  in His sight for you."  (Romans 12:2)