Laundry

Laundry

By: Susan Deborah Schiller

Her chubby cheeks dimple in a wide smile as orange Popsicle goo drips down her chin and all over her sunsuit. Seventeen months old and life has no limits except for the ones I must enforce near the busy road in front of our house. Her sister, nearly three-years old, is the picture of food-friendly perfection. With quick, delicate licks, her tongue catches her cherry Popscicle's quickly melting drips in the record heat of July 1987.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the creator of these colorful ice treats, as I now have purchased about eight minutes of freedom to hang three loads of wash on the clothesline! My bulging abdomen is heavy with our third child who is due to be born in a few days. One whole line is completely full of cloth diapers and for the thousandth time I wonder if there will ever come a day when i'm not feeding, clothing, laundering, bathing and wiping up messes.

I memorize the moment, like a mental photograph, because I know these busy days will fade away soon enough. I envision myself as a great-grandmother surrounded by babies, toddlers, little ones and big ones, and I make a mental note to stock my freezer with ice pops. Eight delicious minutes of freedom…. priceless… but not as priceless as their smiles. 🙂

Do you have mental photographs, too… indelibly embedded in your heart?

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A writing exercise bloggers from all over the world are doing today at "Five Minute Friday" with Lisa Jo Baker. We write for 5-minutes, no editing… and then we share!

Click image above to Join!

Choosing love today,

Sue

Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate her way out of hell to a rich and satisfying life. In her lifetime, Susan has served in duties ranging from home school mom – to pastor –  to full-time deliverance minister – and to Midwest regional prayer coordinator for a large international ministry. These days you can usually find Susan soaking in her favorite hot springs pool, reading a book (or several), blogging, baking bread, or hanging out with her family and friends. You can get a free copy of Susan's upcoming book, "On the Way Home" by registering here.

Copyright 2012, Susan Schiller, http://TeamFamilyOnline.com. Permission is granted to copy, forward, or distribute this article for non-commercial use only, as long as this copyright byline and bio, in totality, is maintained in all duplications, copies, and link references.  For reprint permission for any commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.

Tagged as: Choosing Love Today, Deborah White Dove