Yesterday morning I carried a load of laundry out to my beloved washing machine, added soap, put in the clothes, and turned it on.

About a half hour later I noticed it hadn’t gone through the washing cycle and was concerned

An hour later I was annoyed,

The locking mechanism had gone bad on the machine. Because of this it will fill with water, and then never go to the wash cycle since thee washer must be locked before that happens. I knew that was the problem because a few years ago the same piece broke, and I had it shipped from the States.

It’s funny how a perfectly good morning can be ruined by such a small thing as a broken washing machine piece!

After noticing the problem I had a choice to make

1. Do I order a replacement piece (knowing it will take around three weeks to arrive)
2. Or do I purchase a new washer?
   

After thinking it through I decided to purchase a new washer since my current one was bought used six years ago.

The truth is I had a pretty bad mood for a few hours after the machine broke. In a way this is normal, but it’s actually my sin-nature coming to the surface since I worshipped convenience over hard work.

You see there is a perfectly fine way to wash my clothes without a washer (some people say it even works better)

Washing them by hand!

It’s not complicated to wash clothes by hand

• You fill a tub (or washing bucket) with water, soap, and clothes
• You let the clothes soak around ten-minutes
• And then you scrub each piece of clothing individually before rinsing them thoroughly in a bucket of clean water
  

See not complicated….

But not easy either!!!

As a missionary I’ve become accustomed to doing things the easy way. Putting the clothes in the machine, pouring in the soap, and pressing a button.

But sometimes God in His infinite wisdom calls us to do things the hard way.

After getting over my little pity-party I took the clothes out of the washer (that never got washed), put them in a washing bucket, and started to scrub.

It definitely wasn’t as fun as pushing a button

But it did the job

Efficiency isn’t a sinful thing (I will start shopping for a new washer tomorrow) since it does make our lives easier. But when life becomes hard it does little good to feel sorry for ourselves.

So grab a bucket, and start scrubbing!