Busted – Watching the Spin Cycle

Last week, our youngest daughter Jill, and her family, were here for Thanksgiving. They left on Friday and, as usual, we had a good time together, filled with fun and joy throughout the week. From time to time, we get a little giddy with all the kids around and it was during breakfast one day that we started to discuss our new washer and dryer. For those of you who may not remember, several months ago I wrote a post entitled, “Clean Laundry,” the story of our new appliances and how they play songs at the end of the wash and dry cycles.

Jill shared with us that the post I wrote that day was one of her favorites and that she could just picture Janet in the laundry room waiting for the end of the cycle to hear what song would be played. Jill actually admitted that she laughed out loud when she read the story. Now Janet is concerned that the whole world will think she is some kind of an oddball, but I assured her that the stories about her were told with the deepest love and affection. Furthermore, almost every person in the country would do some of the same things we do, given similar circumstances. So all these events were recounted from the perspective that Janet is just so lovable that I didn’t think anybody would find fault with the things she, and I, tell on ourselves. I hope that I am right, because of what comes next…

Anyway, among other things, the new washer came with a clear glass top. The first time I saw it I was reminded of the many times, as a little kid, that I would go down into our basement, wait for our Maytag washer to go into the spin cycle, and then quickly lift up the top to watch the laundry spin. Of course, as soon as I lifted the lid, the motor would shut off and the washer would quickly stop. So, I never really got to see the whole process. I guess that is why I went into the basement so often to try and observe the laundry cycles. As a little kid, I didn’t think about finding the safety switch and holding it down while the lid was up – I guess I wasn’t that creative in those days. And, as I got older, I lost interest in watching the washing machine do the laundry. I had better things to do.

But it was during this discussion that I asked Jill about how she liked the new machine. She said that she loved it and had done quite a few loads of laundry since their arrival in our home. Something in the way that she answered me caused me to wonder out loud if she had, by chance, stayed in the laundry room to wait for the cycle to end – so she could hear the song for herself. With a little sheepish grin, she admitted that she had, in fact, stayed in the laundry room. Not to hear the song, but to watch the machine run through the spin cycle. Busted!

She did the same thing that I used to do – except that she had the luxury of being able to watch through a glass top in the machine. How convenient…. Now I was 10 years old when I was mesmerized by the washer, but Jill is in her thirties……. and I have to publicly admit that there is something oddly hypnotic about watching the clothes spinning so fast around the inside of the machine. In fact, several times since the new machine arrived, I have found myself just standing there, counting down the minutes to the next cycle. So it didn’t really come as a surprise that Jill liked it also, but I was kind of surprised that she admitted it!

So Jill thought she was doing something totally new, but she wasn’t. Because I, and even my mother before me, liked doing the same thing. I was reminded of my grandfather telling me that there was nothing new under the sun – it was only new to us because we have not experienced everything as God has. How true! In fact, that verse actually appears in Scripture, and it’s tonight’s verse. From Eccl. 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

My encouragement tonight is to remind you that God already knows everything about you. Nothing is new to Him – only to you. And my prayer is that you will enjoy the peace and joy that comes from knowing that God has you covered. In fact, His son Jesus, covered all of our sins, once and for all, on the cross. Grace and Peace…..