What “THE TOILET” Taught Me

My husband said that I’m telling everyone about THE TOILET but I’m not. I’ve told a few people close to me but I haven’t told everyone – until now! Now, I want to tell everyone.

Last week, my husband and I rented a house with three other couples and can I just say I think it is a great idea to go on vacation with people you don’t know well if you are a writer? Why? Because it gives you lots of new blogging fodder. Like stories about a mother who makes a sacrifice for her unprepared daughter and goes to church closer to the way the Lord made her – butt naked (under her skirt.) Or stories about husbands that start electrical fires in the middle of the night and have to make repairs to the burnt wall before anyone wakes up. But those stories are for another day…

So, we rented a house with three couples and since I was still recovering from knee surgery, the other couples were gracious enough to let my husband and I have the downstairs master bedroom – with THE TOILET!

This wasn’t a bidet. It looked like a regular toilet but it was a “self-cleaning toilet.” When I approached THE TOILET, water sprayed the bowl. Cool. When I sat down, it was a little shocking to experience a heated seat – but I adjusted just fine and decided it was sort of calming. When I stood up, more water swished in the bowl after it flushed.

It never happened when I was, ahem, engaged on the seat, but I did witness a rod coming out of a trap door and spraying water. A little Google session told me the rod was a “rear” cleaner – and it wasn’t talking about the rear of the toilet. But for the most part there was just a lot of water swishing around in the bowl before and after use.

Then I experienced THE TOILET in the middle of the night! I came around the corner, a sensor triggered and a light came on IN the toilet bowl.

“How weird,” I thought. And then I thought, “That is awesome! Every toilet should light up in the middle of the night!” Whether you are trying to squat – or not – in the middle of the night, a lighted toilet bowl is THE BEST!

Why doesn’t every toilet light up? Unless you have experienced a toilet lighting up when it senses you are near, you’ve probably never given much thought to the need for a lit up toilet. But I’m telling you, it is something to behold!

We can go our entire lives groping in the dark for the bowl. They make stuff called toilet cleaner and little brushes that can sit behind the toilet waiting to be used for a few quick swishes. Why do we need anything as fancy as THE TOILET?

We don’t. We can continue to do life just like we always have.

And now I’m not talking about THE TOILET. I’m talking about those things in our lives that remain the same. Those things we do just like we always have – whether it is healthy or good for us.

Maybe we do what our parents and grandparents did and call it family tradition –even if it isn’t the right thing to do.

Maybe we bicker with our spouse because we saw bickering modeled.

Maybe we keep friends that aren’t good for us.

Maybe we stay in a job because we are afraid to look for something new.

Maybe we don’t pick up the phone to make amends because it has been too long.

Often, we sit in the same sin we’ve sat in forever. Or we cling to the same ol’ struggle because it has become who we are.

I understand. I am a rooter – a planter. I like things to stay consistent. My “systems” – the way I do things, store things, wash things, clean things, pack things, etc.– are important to me.

But I know those times when I have been uprooted have been the best for me. New things can bring new life.

Jesus made a way for us to make a change.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 17

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Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4: 21-24

 

I didn’t know I could have a new, improved toilet until I experienced THE TOILET!

What things in your life need some light brought into them? To be swished a little bit? Or maybe even flushed?

Can I pray for you to make needed changes in your life?

 

 

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