A few weeks ago I was cleaning my house. You know the dreaded house cleaning we all have to do along with our crazy work schedules…the vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, mopping, etc.

I started to vacuum the living room, when all of a sudden, the vacuum cleaner stopped working. It completely turned off. I tried playing around with the cords and checking the outlet to see if the outlet was working…but nothing happened.

Then I decided to read the vacuum cleaner manual about how to troubleshoot problems with this particular cleaner.  It stated that if the cleaner shuts off, follow these instructions:

• Step 1 Turn cleaner off and unplug.
• Step 2: Locate blockage and remove the blockage.
• Step 3: Wait 30 minutes before plugging in and turn cleaner on.

I realized that I had not cleaned the vacuum cleaner filter in months. After I cleaned the filter, I turned on the cleaner, and yes, you guessed it, it worked just like it did before, and even better. The problem was that the filter needed cleaning.

I know you are asking yourself, why is she sharing this? Stay with me for one moment. Can we take this example and learn from a simple vacuum cleaner? In our own lives, we find ourselves going and going, and working overtime, and we forget to clean our lives out. Things get so congested and chaotic in our life: the kids, the husband, the church assignments, career, school, etc. When do we take the time to clean our life out? We wait until things get clogged up and chaotic before we rearrange our lives. Maybe you have too many things on your plate. When this happens, we let very important things get pushed to the back of our lives.

Think about it: Have you taken the time to unclog your life?

Article by M. Smith