Thoughts from the Dryer

Yesterday was sheet-washing day. We have lots of sheets - the queen set from mine and Doug's bed, Olivia's double set, and Steven and Angela's twin sets. I am continually thankful for my extra large capacity washer because they all fit in one huge load! Woo-hoo! What a blessing!

As I was loading the sheets into the dryer, a thought occurred to me. I had been putting them on a full dry cycle only to have to come back and turn them on again for another twenty minutes or so because some of the sheets were still damp. But for the past few weeks, I haven't had to do that.

Then it dawned on me that it probably had to do with the weather. When it was cold, it took longer for them to dry. Once the temperatures started warming up again, the sheets began drying in a normal length of time.

Circumstances do make a difference in productivity, don't they?

Often in our way of thinking, we get the idea that when circumstances affect our productivity, we should just be excused from being productive. We have all sorts of excuses - all sorts of reasons why we should be let off the hook.

So, I should just let my dryer off the hook for the winter, right? I should just string clothesline up all over the house and let the clothes dry on the lines.

True, that might save us some money on our power bill, but it seems a bit ridiculous to suddenly quit using the dryer just because the dryer has to work a little harder to dry my sheets in the winter.

In the same way, we need to realize that our circumstances are not an excuse to quit. If something is a little harder than we think it should be, that just gives us the boost to work a little harder - to reach a little further to achieve our goals.

When circumstances make it tougher for you to walk through life, keep working. Give yourself a little boost from the Word and the encouragement of others and get back to it! It might take a little more effort, but the results are worth it!