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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Clogged Filter

One of the many blessings God has given our family was a house with a pool. Just a little thing that makes life with 5 active kids a little easier to take...but one that takes a lot of maintenance.  And with all the storms that are turning Southern California swamplands, well...I am sure you can imagine the state of our pool right now. 

This morning as the rain slammed down on our area, I stood in our indoor wading pool (...otherwise known as the enclosed patio when it isn't the rainy season, but this is a whole other story...) and looked out at what is normally a source of fun and joy for our family...and I thought back on this post. 

I wrote it last summer...when no one but me knew where my blog was located...but today, it seems quite fitting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little while back, the kids were changing into suits when I looked out and saw a lot of "floaters" dancing on top of the water. I figured that since our pool isn't really that big, it would be a simple job to go out and clean it. Just take the skimmer and walk around the pool once, catching the dirt...right?

Well on my 5th pass around the oval that is my kids' oasis, I realized just how MUCH dirt is attracted to the water. As the afternoon light twinkled on the small waves created by the motion, more and more forgien objects made themselves known. And as my eyes adjusted to the miniscule pieces, I saw how much had already sunk to the bottom...all of it making what I was doing seem such a waste of time! I circled another time or two, but gave up dejected because I couldn't pull every scrap of dirt from the water.

A few days later, our new pool guy came over to give our pool the "swimming season kick-off" cleaning. I watched him as he made a few passes with his net and listened as he described the process he would use to take the murkiness from our water. I mentioned my attempts at skimming it and he just laughed politely and said "Yeah, well, it's your first pool right? You just gotta know what you are doing."

He was there less than 30 minutes and I was amazed at how casually he poured in a little of this bottle and then a little of that one. I admit my skeptisism as he said how blue our water would be in just a week. With all the stains on the sides and all that crud floating along the bottom?? Blue?? I mean, our pool is cute and all, but if he thought we were going to have "beautiful blue" water in just a week then the fumes from all the cleansers had gotten to him!

He brushed up all the dirt from the bottom, turned on Louie (our affectionate name for the filter snake), smiled and then left with a casual "Now that your filter is clean, I can't wait to see it next week" thrown over his shoulder. I stood by the pool and looked at the cloud of dirt and chemicals that clouded out Louie and just shook my head.

Yesterday was a week and our pool guy was back.

As I stood at the edge of the pool while he was adding chlorine, my thoughts mind flooded with my thoughts from just 7 days prior. I almost laughed as I watched him skim the top of the beautiful...clean...blue water. He used his brush along the bottom of the pool and when nothing floated to the top, he looked up at me, smiled and said "See?!?"

And in that moment, I smiled back, shook my head and then wondered:

Is our heart like a pool? Filled with the layers of dirt...some light enough to float on top, but too small to skim away while others are so heavy that they sink to the bottom only to cloud us out when stirred up?

Does God watch us get frustrated at our lack of ability to clean it ourselves and say "You just gotta know what you are doing?"

And does He, when called out to by one in need of a cleaning, just walk in like our pool guy...with a big smile and an eye that sees the murky water for all its potential for His glory and my good?

And then...I wonder at mySELF for how many times God has called me beautiful and I have looked only to see what I couldn't skim from the top...forgetting that He is looking at me without all the dirt that He already took from my clogged filter.

"I, even I, am He who blots out transgression, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25
Wow - He amazes me!

Looking up as always...

2 comments:

alicia said...

I see my own reflection in your post today and I thank you for your words!

Karen said...

Bina, we had a pool once, and yes, they are a pain at times. But when clean, they are wonderful. Great analogy. I totally agree! Blessings*

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