The New Year

Dear Friends~

Side note: I am no longer working at the nursing home, and got the job I was praying about. I now work with foster kids.

When I worked at the nursing home, I would do laundry quite often because I did not have many scrubs the job was temporary. I would put clothes in the washer/dryer and surprises would appear when I would open the door to put the clothes in the dryer, gloves, tissues, and scrap paper I would put in my pocket to write notes. But one time an ink pen appeared in the wet clothes. I looked at the pen and the lid was on it, and I quickly scanned my clothes everything seemed to be fine. So, I threw the clothes in the dryer, and the pen in the waste basket. I started the dryer, and never thought of it again. When the dryer was finished, I had a problem. Not only was there a few pieces of laundry ruined, but the entire dryer was covered in streaks of black ink!! Apparently there was ink on the clothes, and when the heat hit the ink, it rubbed of on the dryer. What to do!! Plan A: I grabbed a bucket of warm water and soap. I scrubbed and some of it came off. Plan B: I knew that if you used hairspray, alcohol, on ink in clothes, it would sometimes take it out. So, I got out the alcohol and started scrubbing. Eventually, the black streaks turned into gray stains. No matter how hard I scrubbed, there was always going to be a stain. Even though the episode happened months ago, I will always be a reminder of that day, not only to me, but to my mom as well (it happened to be her dryer). I have now learned to check my pockets better.

Starting a new year is like having a dryer full of ink. In a new year, a person can rub the mistakes of the year before, and start over. But no matter how hard you rub, there is always a little bit of ink left in the dryer. The ink stain left in the dryer, reminds you of the lessons learned through out the year before. Lessons such as checking your pockets for pens, forgiving a friend (or those who hurt you years before), or having faith in yourself and God to know that He will come through in the end; the list can go on and on. What does your list look like?

With 2009 over and 2010 started, I encourage you to look back at the stains that accumulated. These stains are not bad, but apart of who we are. If some of the stains are bad enough, I encourage you to try and rub them out a little more, whether it be with yourself, or someone else. Will we always remember the lessons from the year before, probably not always, but I hope, the second time around, the stain stays a little darker. I personally, have a few stains to remember, and will try to do what is needed to keep the stain from turning darker.

To end on a lighter note, please do not wash a pen with your clothes.

Happy New Year~

Crystal