Immediately I put my book down, jumped out of bed, and ran to the closet which houses my cleaning supplies. This had to come down tonight before I did anything else. As I came back into the room, equipped with a full arsenal of rags, dusters, and spray, I realized I needed to cover the bed or it would become the new home to all the dust currently living on the fan. I quickly draped the bed with old ratty towels that are usually in the car protecting the back seat from Jackson. Then I went to battle. The war was on and the dust was putting up a good fight. It was so thick the Swiffer Duster wasn't doing the job. I had to really wipe hard to clean the blades. I was amazed by how much dust had collected so quickly. It really had not been very long since I cleaned the blades. I know I've wiped them down a few times in the six months we've lived here!
All of the dust really got me to thinking about life in general. Sometimes I'm a lot like that fan. My life is dusty, and I need it cleaned. There are so many distractions, annoyances, and just stuff in my life that clutters things up and makes me dusty. I don't know where it all comes from, but it always seems to cloud my vision about what's important.
While I was cleaning my fan, I looked around to see what may be causing so much dust. As I turned around, I noticed the AC vent just two feet from the fan blades. When I looked closer and saw the dust inside the vent, I knew I had found the culprit. I also came to the realization if I didn't get to the source of the problem, then I would always have a dusty fan. No matter how well I clean the fan blades, with the dusty air blowing on them, it's not going to take any time at all for my fan to be just as dusty as they were tonight. Until I clean the ducts, or at least install a filter over my ceiling vents, I will always have a dust problem.
My life is like that as well. As long as I just clean up the surface of my life, Ill just keep getting dusty. It's a superficial clean, something everyone can see, but it doesn't solve the problem. What I need to do is call in a specialist to clean out my ductwork. I know that is easier said than done. It takes time and sacrifice, but it's definitely worth it in the long run. Not only will my life truly be clean, when my fan blades start to get a little dusty again, the dusting will not be quite as tedious.
"Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life."
Psalm 51:7 (The Message)
