Dirty Window

Today I cleaned my kitchen window. I have been standing at my kitchen sink for the past few months, looking out at the beauty that God placed outside my window for me to enjoy...all the while looking through a streaky, orange-strawberry-banana-drink splashed up, dirty window. (My mom was babysitting Olivia one day....and was thrilled to discover that when she dropped a 2-quart pitcher of orange strawberry banana drink on the floor - it landed upright and didn’t spill a drop!! Not. Later that day, I noticed the shiny splashes of dried drink on the ceiling and on the cabinets and on the window.) Three days later (yes, I’m a slug when it comes to housework), I dragged the stool out and washed off the ceiling and the cabinets. I attempted to wash the window –but it just turned into a big streaky mess. And so, I have been staring through that big streaky mess each time I try to enjoy the view outside my window...for MONTHS!

Today I finally had had enough. I grabbed a Clorox kitchen wipe –wiped the window. Yuck. Made it worse –very streaky. Next I tried a bottle of my favorite cleaner –sprayed too much on the window –made it even worse. Now instead of looking through a few streaks, I’m trying to sort through a myriad of massive streaks. What now? I grabbed a dry paper towel –wiped the window several times. A little better –but still not streak-free. Finally, I grabbed a wet paper towel –wiped the window with plain old tap water. (Which in our case is spring-fed well water which tastes like fresh mountain spring water which we’ve threatened to use to start our own bottling company...but, I digress). Anyway....the plain water did the trick. No more streaks.

The view outside is so much nicer without the streaks. I was going somewhere with this –let me try to remember where....oh yeah, For so long, I had been content to view my world through a dirty, streaked up window. Every day –looking at life through the murk. Then I decided to clean things up a bit –I went gung ho –sprayed a whole lot of cleaning garbage on the window and wiped and wiped and wiped some more which only resulted in a bigger mess. Finally –I went for the simple solution. Water. Just plain water.

My life lately is a lot like that view from the window. For so long, I had been content to look through the gunk and the junk –thinking that what I was seeing on the other side was a magnificent view. But it was clouded by gunk and junk and, as Olivia would say, a sticky, icky, gooey, yucky, ucky, eewy mess. So –I vigorously got to the job of cleaning it –myself –with all the best cleaners on the market. Didn’t work. Made things worse. Now I have more of a mess to clean. Finally –the simple solution that was there all the time....I go for the water —the Living Water. I allow the simple healing water of the Lord to clean my window.....I can't do the cleaning myself with all the heavy-duty cleaning "stuff" that I'm sure will accomplish the task. Only God can clean the window.

Wow —what a view!


When I was a child, I spake as a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child:
but when I became a man, I put away
childish things. For now we see through a
glass, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even
as also I am known. --I Corinthians 13:11 P.S. This really is the view out of my kitchen window!