Vacuums and Stretch Marks

Proverbs 31:17

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

There are some household chores that I have a hard time making it through. Vacuuming is one of them. It seems so daunting. It takes at least twenty minutes to vacuum our (small) house sufficiently. It's so noisy. I always get hot and sweaty doing it. And we have cheap, old-roommate-stained carpet. You can't see where you've been and where you haven't. Basically, I push this noisy thing around for 20 minutes, look like I've run a marathon all for NO visible results.

As you can tell- vacuuming is not enjoyable for me- so for several years I would make it a seasonable occasion. Literally, the carpet would be vacuumed no more than 6 times a year.

And then our little bundle of joy started going mobile and started eating anything he could find. And there were certainly things to be found (mostly stuff he'd thrown off the high chair tray just hours before.)

My dear husband asked that I take vacuuming more seriously. I asked our dear Father to give me a sacrificial love for our baby- a heart that would put up with vacuuming.

And He did! I'm happy to announce that I've vacuumed once a week for the past month or so and that I've experienced JOY for the 20 minutes I've done it. Praise God!

Some of you are probably laughing. Okay, maybe all of you are, but this is worth getting excited about. In Proverbs, we read that we should go about our work vigorously, where everything inside us says "Sit on the couch. Don't worry about it...." And we have to fight those urges. We have to fight our own selfishness and laziness and get busy with our work. I pray that the LORD instills within you an ability to be vigorous in whatever work you need to do today and tomorrow and the day after that....

And just a quick word about her strong arms. : )

I distinctly remember being a young girl sitting at my grandmother's kitchen counter. Grandma was upset about something- someone actually. I can't remember if this someone was a person we really knew or a famous person, but Grandma was upset because this person had "never worked a day in her life." How did my Grandma know this? "Her hands. Those hands are too perfect to have ever rung out a baby's diaper." My Grandma could look at this woman's hands and know whether or not she has suffered and worked for her family.

Are your arms strong for your tasks? Are your hands dry from washing 3 sinkfuls of dishes a day? Are you arms scratched from trimming bushes and trees in your backyard? Is your middle marked by skin stretching back and forth as children grew inside you?

Don't be ashamed of these signs- signs of hard work and sacrifice. I guarantee you God finds them beautiful.