Clean Your Vacuum

I just started crying while vacuuming my house. Seriously, I sat down on my living room floor and cried my eyes out. It’s not because I hate vacuuming, or housework in general; I actually take great pride in keeping my house clean. It’s because I realized that I don’t pray enough.

You see, I vacuum daily; I have two dogs, a cat, and a husband that likes to track wood shavings and grass throughout the house. Vacuuming is a requirement around here, otherwise I’d be living in a house full of pet-hair-tumbleweeds. I don’t, however, clean my vacuum daily… and I don’t mean emptying the “dust bucket”… I mean cleaning the filter and the brush roll. The gross “I-don’t-wanna-look-at-it”, brush roll. You know the one; it’s filled with long human hair and other matted together inanimate objects… Gross. But, after you clean it the vacuum works ten million times better. Right?

Well, somewhere in the middle of cleaning my vacuum’s brush roll a metaphor came out of nowhere and hit me… and it hit me hard. I vacuum like a champion, but the vacuum can only do so much when it is clogged down by hair and dust; if I keep vacuuming, and ignore cleaning the brush roll it’s just gonna keep getting worse, and worse. This, for some reason, made me think of my prayer life.

I live through every day, and I think of excuses to justify why my life isn’t going the way I want it to; I gained too much weight, I have social anxiety, there isn’t enough time to complete every task required of me… However, how often do I stop to pray about these things? How often do I pray to clean my mind of anxiousness and self-doubt? Not enough.

This may seem like a silly connection. But every time I clean my vacuum I notice it works better… but after a day or two I forget to clean it regularly, again.

I forget.

I forget to pray.

When I have a healthy prayer life I feel so much stronger. Regardless of what’s going on in my life, I know I can find the strength to pull through it…. But then, eventually, I forget… I want to remember.

But it’s more than just that… Much more.

A few weeks ago I sat in church and heard a preacher give a wonderful sermon, he expanded on Matthew 5:14; “You are the light of the world”, by explaining spiritual light – the light of God. He explained that we, as Christians, are not to let the light in our life go out, and that we can tend to that light in four, important, ways; (1) Active Prayer Life, (2) Active Life of Biblical Study, (3) Active Life of Worship, and (4) to Let the Light of Jesus Christ Shine from Us.

That sermon didn’t truly click in my mind until today; particularly the word “active”; taking time out of the day to talk to God; to have a dialogue with Him. To pray at all times, without ceasing.

So, I sat there, in my living room floor, vacuum by my side, crying, and I prayed. I prayed that I always remember to be active in my relationship with God. Then I got out my Bible and did a Bible study… and then I wrote this blog.

… and now I’m going to finish vacuuming my living room. God bless.

Sincerely, the Uncustomary Housewife