Being Faithful in a Few Things

     When I was first married (at 17) we lived in a run down duplex which was quite literally on the other side of the tracks. The day we moved in I discovered that the former tenants had neglected to remove their food from the fridge. It was a vision in green- mold that is. And the oven had so much cooked on grease that it looked like a hibachi. I rolled up my sleeves and cleaned that place until it sparkled. It took a week to remove all of the filth from that duplex. It had no washer and dryer so we had to use the laundrymat. That was expensive for a young couple with a new baby. Sometimes there was no money-so I had to hand-wash my baby's diapers in the bathtub, then dry them on a wooden rack in the sun. (No huggies in those days, girls!)
     Then we moved to a cabin on the South Pass Road; up in the woods. The rent was $35 a month and we thought we could save some money. We didn't. That old cabin had 2 big rooms and a bathroom. I still remember taking a shower and seeing a mouse pop his head up through the drain, right next to my foot! That was my last shower in the cabin. I drove to my mother's house almost every day to shower and bathe the baby. Tough times.
     The next place was a one-bedroom cottage. By then we had two children. My sister told me how 'cozy' it was, but realistically, it was too small for our family. I did my very best to make a home of that little place. My husband and I moved our bedroom into the dank old basement and gave the boys the only real bedroom.  Mom brought me a good solid used washer and dryer so that I wouldn't have to go to the laundrymat anymore. I was thrilled with that mismatched set!
     After this, we were approved for a brand new FHA home in a newly built housing development. But we needed some place to stay until  the construction was finished. So we moved into a flimsy cabin in the back of a friend's garage. I think before he moved it to his property, it had been a migrant farm-worker's cabin. (Maybe that's why I drive past the raspberry fields and feel such empathy for the families who live in migrant camps. I feel such passion for this 'invisible' piece of our society- but will save my comments for another day.) Anyway, I'll never forget trying to wax that old chunk of 'brick'  printed linoleum in the fuschia-pink kitchen. I buffed that floor so shiny-slick that the kids could skate on it in their socks. Shortly before we moved into our new home, some close friends stopped by. My friend Barb looked at me and said, " Debbie, if anybody deserves a new place; you do. You could write a story and call it  From Dump to Dump with the Lord."
     I didn't comment, but I felt differently. If I had written a book, it would have been called; "Being Faithful in a Few Things."
You see, even though I'd only been a believer for a few years, I had read something in the Bible that had inspired me during the lean times. It's called the Parable of the Talents. And the essence of the story is that if you are faithful with little; God will bless you with more. I believed that. I believed it when I faithfully scrubbed  that scuffed-up linoleum floor and planted nasturtium seeds in front of  our weathered cabin. I believed it when I bought old remnant pieces of rug for carpet and when I used contact paper to wallpaper my kitchen and  as I lemon-Pledge-polished cheap wall-panelling until it gleamed. I still believe it.
     Times have changed for me. I was divorced and remarried. The kids are all grown up with babies of their own.  And I've lived in many more homes. Some were old and some were brand new.
     I still remember in my first new home; mom looked around wistfully and said,  "Honey, I've never had a brand-new home. It must be so wonderful to walk on a brand new carpet and put your dishes into cupboards that nobody else has ever used."
      She never got to experience that.
     So in a week or two, we will be gutting our old '80s vintage bathroom and replacing it with new tiles, fixtures, lighting, flooring...the works. Today as I stood in that old room; I remembered the Parable of the Talents. I got out my scrub brush and donned my Playtex rubber gloves, and  scrubbed that old tub until it shone. Even though the grout is so old that nothing, and I mean nothing, will remove the mold from it; I tried again. Then I got down on my hands and knees to wash the floor. (There will never be a better way to clean a floor than on one's hands and knees.)  And as I knelt on that floor I gave thanks to my Father. He's been with me every day for these many years in all of  my homes, and blessed me with so much more than I could have imagined, just as He promised some 30 some years ago. And no matter what surface I've knelt upon, linoleum or tile, wood or carpet-He's always been right there with me; hearing and answering my prayers.
     So when the remodel is done and I share my 'before and after' pictures of the bathroom with you; I hope you won't be envious or dissatisfied with your own home. Instead, I'd like you to remember that no matter what you have; little or much...be faithful to take good care of it-and be grateful for it. Be assured that someday you'll turn around to see that you too have been blessed with more than you could ever imagine!
(The Parable of the Talents may be found in Matthew 25: 14-30)