Connecting the Dots with Erin Outcalt

The treasures you find while cleaning the fridge!

Erin Outcalt

By ERIN OUTCALT

mcp blogger

Today I tackled cleaning out the fridge and freezer. You know how you think that your house is pretty clean until you perform a chore like this only to find that those sticky messes or dust bunnies stare you right in the face and laugh? I think my refrigerator must have been hysterically laughing at me when it saw my face as I began!

I started this undertaking by throwing out bottles of expired salad dressing, plum sauce and other various condiments that have been sitting in the fridge for a while. Mind you I didn’t think my condiment collection would be expired because it seemed like they were fairly new and looked fine. Maybe this is a subtle sign that I am getting older. I can remember cleaning out things from my grandmother’s fridge that had expired a year or two before and queasily wondering if I had accidentally eaten any of those forgotten foods.

Next I tackled cleaning up the spills that were indescribable in nature. What I assume was chocolate sauce was liberally spilled along the door shelf conveniently hidden up to this point by the expired diet salad dressing that no one had touched since the last time we were on a diet. Last spring, maybe? Honestly I’m not sure what half the spills were nor do I really even want to think about it because my hands were in that mess and in order to get it clean I certainly couldn’t be battling my gag reflex. But I managed to get it done and it’s all sparkly and new looking

Cleaning the refrigerator made me think about how we need to open the door and shine the light on the drips and spills of the messy stuff in our lives too. It is by far easier to ignore the mess pretending it doesn’t exist but at some point we are going to have to clean it up. It becomes our choice if we are going to take care of it before it gets too sticky.

Each day it is my hope that I clean up those little drips before they become a big mess in my life. The drip that brings bitterness I will wash away with forgiveness. The drip that brings anger I will wash away with love. The drip that brings judgment I will wash away with grace. To wash away these things would be impossible on my own. I thank God every day for the grace that he has shown me. Goodness knows He’s had to help me clean up a lot of sticky messes!

Now that the fridge is clean and I’ve had some time for self-reflection it’s on to another project. Wonder how many dust bunnies have taken up residence under my furniture?