Mar
12
2015
Under The Rug
Posted in Daily Living 2 Comments
We have lived in our current house for eighteen years.
Our youngest daughter had her first birthday in this house.
We moved into our home in July, on my birthday.
We left soon after we moved in to go to Atlanta to see the Olympic games.
Most of the rooms in the house were set up the way we wanted them before we left.
The dining room still had boxes of my mother’s good china.
We had not hung anything on the walls yet.
Everything we needed to do would be finished when we returned.
No blinds were on the windows.
No color was on any of the walls.
I knew I would have to live with off-white for a while.
I knew that as soon as we could, I wanted warm color on the walls.
Only the bedrooms, the family room, and my husband’s office had carpet.
The front and back stairs had carpet as well.
Every other room had hardwood floors; even the hallway upstairs.
I remember the first night our children saw the house.
We had gone to settlement and the house was ours.
The movers were coming the next day.
We went over to the house to check it out before the empty rooms were filled.
I remember the way the house echoed.
The boys loved calling out and hearing their echo as they went from room to room.
They leaned over the balcony railing that was above the family room.
Rules were set up then and there about never throwing anything off the balcony.
They all liked the window seat ledge in both the dining room and the kitchen.
Our youngest daughter was only eight months old at the time.
We brought her stroller inside so she could sit and hopefully sleep while we worked.
As if on cue, she woke up from the car ride and cried the entire time.
No one was able to console her.
It was as if she knew she was someplace different.
Someplace strange that very soon would become so wonderfully familiar.
It would all take time.
It would all take adjustments.
One of my daughters checked around upstairs.
I heard her call to me, full of excitement.
Mom, there are floors up here in the hallway!
That’s really a good idea.
Why is that such a good idea? I asked never imagining her response.
In her ten-year-old way, she answered with words that made total sense to her.
Because when anyone throws up, it will be on the floor and not the rug.
I tried not to laugh because she was so serious in her observation.
Any mother knows that children never make it to the bathroom in time when they are sick.
They will always get sick inches from the tile floor.
They will inevitably get sick on the carpet or in their bed.
Any mother will tell you about the mounds of sheets she washed and the rugs she cleaned.
The hard wood floors served us well.
Besides looking nice, they were functional.
With five children, there were times when the hallway floor came in handy.
It was much easier to clean up a wipe-able surface.
Spills and mishaps happen with young children.
Mothers feel as if they spend their whole lives cleaning up something.
Wiping it away and sanitizing the surface afterwards is best.
However, there are always those times when a carpet is involved.
We tend to sweep things under the rug.
It would be so much better if we clean things up completely.
We sweep, we hide, and we assume that it is out of sight, it is out of mind.
We couldn’t be more wrong.
All sweeping under the rug does is create a pile of debris we must walk around.
Soon there is an elephant in the room that we have to maneuver around to get anywhere.
We think because it is hidden, we have done a good job covering it up.
At first it may seem so, but over time the debris fills the room and fills our life.
There is only one safe place to hide.
There is only one safe place to deposit our problems.
There is only one safe place to be completely vulnerable.
There is only one safe place to be fully known and fully loved.
Then Moses said, “Now show me Your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all of My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. But,” He said, “you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand and you will see My back but My face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)
Moses had been lamenting, pouring His heart out to God.
Moses was weary from leading the people.
Moses begged God for His presence to remain with them.
It was God’s presence with them that set them apart.
Moses could have swept all of his anguish under the rug.
Moses could have put up a noble front and appeared to be just fine.
However, leadership was taking its toll on him.
Sweeping it all under the rug would be unwise.
Instead, Moses poured his heart out to the Lord.
Moses wanted God to show him His face, and then he wouldn’t feel so alone.
No one can see God’s face and live.
In His compassion and mercy, God allowed Moses to get a glimpse of His glory.
You are my hiding place: You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7)
Our only safe hiding place is in the shadow of God’s hand, in the cleft in the rock.
We cannot hide ourselves or our problems under a rug.
In the hands of the Lord we are safe.
The debris is removed, as far as the east is from the west.
No more hiding.
No more maneuvering around piles of debris.
The clean-up has been taken care of by the One who holds us in His hand.
We are safe; fully known, and fully loved.
What a gift as Christians to know we can hide safely in God’s hands, to know comfort and peace. Thank you, Gina.
Amen, Sue.
There is no better place to be.
Gina