Yesterday, I experienced a new way of doing laundry.....at least...it was new for me. When Bob and I drill we usually get pretty covered with clay and mud. Actually, I'm the one that is always covered in stuff. It is a mystery to both Bob and I. I just look at a speck of dirt and I'm covered! Bob can go a whole week of drilling while wearing one pair of pants to drill in whereas I go through 2 or 3 pairs! Weird huh? Anyway, when we are finished drilling or just need cleaner clothes to work in, we have to soak the clothing that we used for a few hours or a day. After soaking the clothes, we wring them out and toss them in the washing machine. THIS TIME, previous to soaking, I took the clothes out and hosed them down. After hosing the clothes out I soaked them for a day. After all that, the fun began! I had to hand scrub everything.
It was just me, a small brush, a bunch of water, and a lot of dirty laundry. I started at 8 in the morning and finished at 8:48. It took me 48 minutes just to scrub 3 pairs of pants and 3 T-shirts! Definitely made me appreciate a washing machine more BUT, I also realized how much more I take that washing machine for granted. When "laundry time" hits, we usually think of how much we hate to throw some clothes (usually a LARGE load) into the machine and then have to wait for all of it to wash. Then, after waiting for 30-40 minutes, we think of how much we hate throwing it in the dryer and having to wait another 30-40 minutes just to have dry clothes. Then after all the time is spent waiting for the clothing to be washed, dried, and folded, we want to think of how we could have spent that time doing something else much more entertaining.
While I was scrubbing, all that God continually reminded me of was that I should be VERY HAPPY that I didn't have to use 2 rocks and a creek while spending a whole day out scrubbing in very unsanitary conditions and then having to wait another day or so just for all of my clothing to air dry. That 48 minutes I spent scrubbing suddenly became much, much shorter.
I know things are not great in the States because of the whole debt crisis and other things, but we are all still blessed to be American citizens. Life in the States may get more frustrating but it will be NOWHERE NEAR how some have it here in Honduras. In the States, everyone will still have their microwaves, ovens, stove-tops, toasters, WASHING MACHINES, DRYERS, and other items whereas here....some people have to literally beg or steal for food, wade out in water that they use for drinking, cooking, bathing, and relieving themselves just to wash laundry, and other things.
I'm NOT BASHING anyone but those are just the thoughts that came to my mind. Most of us all grew up with these great things so we don't really know how much of a chore it is just to wash laundry and perform other daily tasks because we have the technology to quickly wipe it out without having to worry about getting dirty. We can just throw the laundry in the machines then walk away. While the machines are doing the work we can go watch T.V., talk on the phone, play video games, etc.
Thanks for reading guys! God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment