Liturgy For Laundry

Laundry is undoing me.

No pretenses or platitudes here.

Laundry is the domestic art I am least motivated to master.

I know, it's a gift to have clothes.

It's a gift to have family who wears these clothes.

It's a privilege to even have a least favorite chore.

But y'all.

The overwhelm of laundry in my life has become a means of sanctification and I'm not even kidding. My laughable lack of discipline when it comes to laundry is a blatant banner of my daily need for His Spirit.

This isn't a purely physical reality anymore. I’ve done the work, the effort, the systems.

We have minimalist capsule wardrobes.

We don't wash most things until we've worn them a few times.

I've tried all the methods & strategies for keeping up (for example, washing certain categories on certain days, separating darks and lights, etc) and all I've been left with is the truth that I cannot keep up with something I hate, and don't desire to surrender and ask for Jesus’ help with.

I have slacked, in the spiritual.

That’s what this laundry conundrum has transcended into- the spiritual.

I am face-to-face with my lack and am desperate for a Helper. Ironically enough, this laundry dilemma is mirroring other spiritual realities God is working with me through. I'm just seeing it revealed in laundry because God has a sense of humor.

So in the physical, I've been doing one load of laundry per day, from start to finish, and not going to sleep until it's done.

Even if it’s just one sock and a kitchen towel that needs washing.

Run the washer, switch it to the dryer, fold it, put away.

No excuses.

That usually means folding late at night when I'd rather be reading.

Or folding midday when I’d rather be working out.

Or folding with a toddler who slows the whole process down. (But oh, how cute are her haphazardly folded washcloths!)

In the evenings, when I’m most often finishing it up, I’ve been lighting a candle, listening to an audio book instead, and eating a snack while I fold.

I have literally read books on how to keep up with laundry, and all the fancy methods and hacks in the world won’t keep it as simple as showing up and sticking to the routine no matter what.

So I’ve kept it simple. No charts, no systems.

Just wash, dry, fold, replace, repeat.

It’s been working. Sometimes I feel wasteful for running a load if its only a few things, but nothing feels worse than getting behind AGAIN, which happens literally overnight if I don’t complete (even a small) daily load.

It’s so tempting to see a small pile of dirty clothes and think “It’s only a few items, I’ll get to it tomorrow when the pile is a little bigger.” But I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that three articles of dirty clothes multiply into thirty by morning.

I am reminded of Hebrews 12:11 which says: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Righteousness. Harvest. Peace. Laundry. Yes, I want that.

Discipline is already bearing fruit in my life, even though it can be unpleasant.

As monotonous as keeping up with laundry is, a mountain of unfinished laundry is even worse feeling.

And in the spiritual, I've been praying for my family as I fold their clothes. Asking Holy Spirit to sanctify me in all the arduous, mundane days of motherhood. Recalling all the biblical analogies and allusions of clothing in scripture. Holding on to my dream of being a graceful, organized, disciplined woman whose learning all these things while in the trenches, buried in laundry.

Here is a Liturgy For Laundering from Every Moment Holy that you can read and memorize to pray while you do your laundry: