dishwasher

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Why Your Past Can’t Really Catch Up To You

We turned back time in our house this past week. We’ve gone back to using a dishwasher instead of washing our dishes by hand.

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And right now you are thinking, “Wait a minute. That’s not going back in time; that’s catching up to the present!” I would agree with you, however, our journey to using a dishwasher has a few twists and turns to it.

Back in the good old days – you know, those days that were never really as good as we think they were – well, back in those days, when Lil and I were first married, we did everything by hand.

As I recall, we even washed our clothes by hand. We didn’t really, but when my kids have kids, I’m going to say we did … and I’ll be so old by then everyone will believe me!

At the very least, we washed our dishes by hand. We pretty much followed this archaic method of cleaning soiled plates and cutlery for years. That is until we moved to Kingston.

That’s when we got a dishwasher. Oh, life was modern then. It seemed like the good life had arrived. Modern appliances would run things for us and we wouldn’t have to do any work around the house at all. Life was grand.

For seventeen years we lived in this blissful state; not a care in the world. It was even magical how the clean dishes reappeared in the cupboards and drawers.

But one sad day – it may have been “the day the music died” (American Pie) – life changed around our happy home. The dishwasher died. It stopped working; it was kaput.

I found myself washing dishes again, like the good old days. Remember them? I wrote about this in a blog last year, “Whatever You Do, Don’t Fix It” (Feb. 23, 2013).

I was getting used to washing dishes with my wife. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I got pretty efficient at drying the various items, except for plastic. I don’t like drying anything plastic, including bags, especially bags!

One day, about six months ago, my son said he had a new dishwasher for us. I thought at first he was moving back home. But no, his friend’s father got a new dishwasher and they wondered if we wanted their old one. Mike said he and his friend would even install it for us.

I said no. Crazy, right? But I knew what would happen. It would sit in our garage for six months and then I would end up having to install it.

Well, deja vu! I just installed the washer this week, six months after it arrived in our garage with great promises.

So we are back to the modern life, the blissful happy home I once recalled. Life couldn’t be more simple, easy, fun. Though it’s louder in our house now – the blasted dishwasher makes a lot of noise and it doesn’t wash the big pots and pans.

… I’m still on towel duty, just like the good old days.

Here’s the thing: We may have had some significant Christian experience in the past. We may even keep looking back to that experience and claim it like it is current or reoccurring. But we need to have new and fresh experiences with God. We need to leave the good old days in the past.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What old experience has you looking to the past rather than for something fresh?

I’d love to hear from you on this. Leave your comment below.

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Whatever You Do, Don’t Fix It!

It’s funny how you can enjoy something, but then want something else that will take away the very thing you enjoy. If I have you confused, that’s okay. I’m a little confused myself.

Let me try to explain. For the last 5 months I’ve been helping with the dishes after the evening meal. My wife, Lily does the washing and I do the drying. Lily has really enjoyed the time we have spent after dinner each night, talking while we do the dishes together.

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I’ve not alway done the dishes – maybe it’s because of the example I had from my father, or maybe it’s because I’m full after dinner and I really need to relax on the couch.

But mostly, I haven’t helped much with the dishes in the past because we have a dishwasher (I’m not referring to Lily here). When we moved into our house almost 17 years ago, there was a large hole under the kitchen counter top.

It looked so odd that we had to get a dishwasher just to fill the space. As I recall, Lily didn’t really want to get it because she was happy to hand wash the dishes if we could do them together. But I convinced her that the hole under the counter really detracted from the esthetics of the kitchen and we needed to install a dishwasher.

All her dreams of washing dishes together evaporated in thin air because I got pretty good at placing my plates, cutlery and cups into the trays, though sometimes I noticed Lily had to rearrange the items because I hadn’t put them in the best place.

That all changed five months ago when our dishwasher stopped working. I took a quick look at it and determined that we needed a new one. Lily looked at it and determined that I should fix it.

The good news, for Lily though, is that we’ve been washing dishes together.  We’ve enjoyed time together, working together and talking. She has loved it; it’s like the dream she had came back to be a reality.

That’s why I found it strange the other day when we were in a store and Lily blurted out, “You really need to fix that dishwasher.” I looked at her and wondered, “Does she really know what she is asking? Does she really want her dream to disappear again?”

Now the chances of me fixing the dishwasher are slim. My opinion is that a new dishwasher is the best fix I could do. You see, our dishwasher is 17 years old. In human years that’s not old at all, but in turtle years that’s getting up there, and in dog years that’s really old! . . .  the dishwasher is a goner.

It still has a purpose though. It fills the hole under the counter and it looks like it’s supposed to do something. You can’t do that with a dead animal. I’m beginning to wonder if she really does like doing the dishes together?

Here’s the thing: We need to be careful that the thing we want, whether it’s an object, a job, or a change of some kind doesn’t take away the time we spend with God. Sometimes what we want can take away from what we now enjoy.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What “wants” can crowd out your time spent with God?  Leave your comment below.