Dust Bunnies

I was ready to take my vitamin.
I took the top off the bottle.
I tilted the bottle in such a way that the vitamin would fall into my hand.
It somehow missed my hand and fell on the floor.

I looked all over the floor for my vitamin to no avail.
I didn’t want someone to step on it.
What should have been insignificant was now a challenge.
The vitamin had to be somewhere.

Then it hit me.
It probably rolled under the stove.
I got down on my hands and knees.
I felt around the floor as far as my fingers could reach with no success.

I got out a little flashlight from the drawer in the kitchen.
All this for a vitamin, I said aloud.
I let the light shine under the oven drawer.
There it was, tucked next to the leg the stove was standing on.

I curled my finger in such a way so I could retrieve the vitamin.
Upon the first attempt, all I got was a few dust bunnies.
Upon the second attempt I got a few more.
It was not until I tried a third time that I got the lost vitamin.

I quickly threw it away.
I got annoyed at myself for wasting time looking for a lost vitamin.
I got back down on my knees and looked under the stove again.
There were a lot of dust bunnies under the oven drawer along with a raisin and an almond.

I found myself laughing at my seven-year-old self.
Seven-years-old and dust bunnies got me into trouble.
Dust bunnies that were not supposed to be seen.
Dust bunnies that were not supposed to be talked about.

My mother was a wonderful housekeeper.
I had my chores and she expected them to be done.
I especially liked anything that would allow me to have a bucket of water.
The mundane jobs that she probably disliked, I enjoyed doing.

I liked wiping the baseboards with clean water.
I liked washing the windowsills until they shined.
I liked washing the window on the front door.
I liked playing in the dishwater.

My mother had a dust mop with a large handle.
She would go around the hardwood floors after spraying her mop with Endust.
I wanted to do that, too, since it looked like so much fun.
I especially liked that the floors got slippery after they were dust mopped.

I liked sliding around the floors in my socks.
Dust mopping the floors was so much fun.
Too much fun, I guess.
I tended to do just the areas I could see.

Without instruction, I didn’t think about dust mopping under my bed.
Mine was the only room with hardwood floors and area rugs.
I was so careful to do all the areas around the rugs.
As a little girl I just didn’t think that dust would hide under my bed.

I remember the night we had company for dinner.
The house smelled so delicious.
Everything looked so lovely.
We all sat down in the dining room for dinner.

Your house is so lovely; you keep everything so nice and clean, someone said.
Not everything, I announced.
There are lots of dust bunnies under my bed, I said as I took a sip of my milk.
You could have heard a pin drop though some were trying not to laugh.

I looked up and glanced over at my mother.
I will never forget the look she gave me.
It was not the fact that there were dust bunnies under my bed.
It was the fact that I announced it and I had not done the job expected of me.

We had a long talk later that night.
I thought my mother was mad because she was embarrassed.
She was not mad but rather she was disappointed.
I had not finished the job that I was expected to do.

One could argue that I should have been shown how to dust mop.
Perhaps there is some truth to that.
I was taught that when you had a job to do, you were supposed to finish it.
No matter how small the job, it was supposed to be done well.

Mom, if you could see me now, I said as I got up from the kitchen floor.
Like my mother, I like to keep a clean house.
Like my seven-year-old self, there are obviously areas that I miss.
Just because it is not seen doesn’t mean it is not there or in need of attention.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23,24)

I have dust bunnies in my character.
We all do.
We clean up nicely and put our best face forward.
But there are things unseen; there are things that need attention.

From the outside, we look like we have it all together.
But if those hidden areas were illuminated we would be surprised.
We have dust bunnies that enjoy staying in the shadows.
We have debris that gets stuck there and needs to be removed.

We need a good thorough cleaning.
We need His Light to shine on our dark places.
We need to see the dust bunnies that we may not even know are there.
We need the dust mop of His Word to get into all of our corners.

No matter how clean we may look on the outside, God knows.
God has every right to say, Not everything is clean.
There are dust bunnies that need to be washed with the water of My Word.
Only God can do a proper cleaning.

God sees the mess that we can’t see.
God gets down and shines His Light on all that is dirty.
Nothing is hidden from His sight.
We thought we were so clean.

God knows.
Trust Him to remove the dust bunnies in your character.
Trust Him to make you more like His Son.
Trust Him to make you clean.