Our new home has a basement, and there, in the cool cinderblock cave, sits the washer and dryer.  Sometimes I stand at the top of the basement steps and chunk a wad of dirty clothes – towels or dishrags - to the bottom to wash later.  When the pile begins to hide a significant portion of the basement floor, I trot on down and begin to sort laundry – you know, “lights” and “darks."  (By the way, did you know that when you have little girls, there is also a “pinks” pile?  It’s a source of immodest pride to note that only once did I make the mistake of washing the Daddy’s underwear in this load!!)

Since we’ve moved out to the county, I have added a “yellows” pile.  Now, I’m not especially partial to yellow as a fashion or decorator choice, but as the weeks and months passed, I noticed that our “whites” were no longer “white” – they weren’t even off-white.  They were mushroom-colored.  We figured it was from the high levels of iron in the well water.  Andy tore out a bunch of old plumbing, PVC’d and installed a whole house water filter, only for it to prove the point that yes, we have a lot of iron, and the filter can’t even suck it all up.  SO, I did what any frugal gal would do – I chucked on down to the Wal-Mart, and bought a batch of new red towels.  NOT!  I bought a couple Golden Yellow Rit dye packs, filled my big grannyware canner up with water, boiled, added the dye and colored all the dirty-looking towels, washcloths, dishrags and t-shirts that weren’t some other dark color.  They came out VERY bright.  And VERY yellow.

Why in the world would I post my dirty laundry on MyChurch?  Well, somewhere between finding fungus-colored towels and the Wal-Mart run, I posed my dilemma to friends who have well water and to some folks on a country living website I subscribe to.  The answers ranged from “wear only dark colors” to “install a water softener system” to “gitcher ma to do yer whites” to “use Arm&Hammer Super washing Soda” (actually, I have asked the managers of the Covington Food Lion and Wal-Mart carry this).  The only thing that really seemed to work if I wanted to keep some white towels was someone’s suggestion that I “hang them outside and let the sun bleach them.” 

As I was folding my fifth load of laundry for the day on Monday, and came across some white towels that had escaped the yellow dye bath, I thought about that advice and the Christian life.  We can try all sorts of schemes to cover up our sins, or to become “clean” through our own acts, but the Bible says that all of these efforts on our own part – our attempts at righteousness - are nothing but “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) to God. 

Next week:  Love and the Rinse Cycle?! J