The "Laundry Basket"

Our motorhome is set up with and came with a washer/dryer. When I said our “coach” had everything we needed I meant it. Oh, except a dishwasher but I am surviving without it so I guess I don’t really need one of those. On the other hand, I have recently found out that I don’t need a washer and dryer either. No, that does not mean we recycle clothing or stink from a mile away, it just means that I have become familiar with the ever dreaded laundry mat. Our convenient clothing cleansing appliance has fouled out and doesn’t work correctly anymore. We looked into replacement parts for it briefly before we found out that the brand that we have has been discontinued so I guess repairing it isn’t going to be an easy or cost effective option. Jeramie has been trying to talk me into buying a new set. I have sat on the mental discussion of what to do about it for quite awhile now. This week Jeramie has persistently encouraged me to figure out what replacement appliance I want. Ugh, I finally had the mental capacity to remember to do this but no matter how much research I did, I could not come to actually purchasing one. It didn’t take me long to pick one out but knowing what I want and actually moving forward with that choice are two separate things. I finally got smart and asked “Ok God, what is my deal? Why can’t I bring myself to commit to something so practically easy. I mean we “need” one right? I have to wash our clothing which I absolutely hate to do with a passion. It makes life simple and I do not have to schedule time in our week to have the laundry done. Who doesn’t want a brand new top of the line LG washer/dryer? And the money we would save every week would be crazy”. I still couldn’t bring myself to come to an answer. Well what are you suppose to do when you are presented with choices you don’t know what to do with? Take it to the scripture. Hmm, well unfortunately there isn’t anything specific about my great washer/dryer dilemma. Well, when you don’t have an answer confirmed by scripture, what do you do? Wait on the Lord. Ok. I can do that. I guess you could say that I have been inadvertently doing that already. If my husband has to stop me, look me in the eye to say “please pick out your washer/dryer this week” then I guess I have been waiting on something.

Sunday. Sunday is suppose to be a day of rest. Sunday is reserved for church which we have been faithful in attending even when away from our home church. It is followed with family time of some sort. And then I do the laundry. At the laundry mat. Sometimes my family comes with but most of the time I get to go alone. We researched our laundry facility options when we first got into the area. Kankakee “Laundry Basket” was the one. God definitely has me stepping out of my comfort zone when I do laundry at the “Laundry Basket”. However, when you step out of your comfort zone, great things can happen. Scary things can happen too but mostly cool things will happen.

Let me set up the visual for you all first. The area we are staying in is south of Chicago but Kankakee is more like an outer oozing of Chicago itself and is still considered part of “Chicagoland” as it is referred to by the local residents. I am always the only white girl. I thought about using the word “Caucasian” to stay politically correct but the African-American demographic call me a white girl so I guess it is ok to call myself a white girl. I am ignored by most of the patrons as I am now the minority. It is a weird experience but completely revealing. I do not speak the same language as most of the people there so I rarely understand any of the conversation around me. I have been sized up by some women and checked out in more ways than one by some men. I have been evaluated for what might be in my purse and still haven’t figured out if it is safer locked in the car or with me inside. I was asked if I was interested in purchasing some “new movies” and was surrounded by a “discrete” illegal commercial exchange where the parties where actually brushing my shoulder to pass back and forth beside me while I was trying to blend into the side of my car hoping I would not be seen. I learned super fast what exactly “new movies” were and they aren’t actually new movies. I have walked into the middle of a heated, jealous exchange between two separate groups of African-American men discussing two women standing between the guys. I do know that no matter how big the mountain of laundry gets I will not be doing it after dark. But, no matter how uncomfortable it gets, I keep getting drawn back so every week I trudge dirty clothing for a family of five into town to the “Laundry basket”. This particular place offers a laundry service for only a dollar a pound and every week I think that having them do it for us might not be a bad idea but the idea is motivated out of my lack of love for the chore of laundry and my pure laziness so I never really entertain that thought for long. Jeramie use to come instituting his protective authority but compared to what he sees every day, doing the laundry is a day at the fair. He trusts me to be wise and trusts God to protect so he doesn’t come anymore even though he asks me if I want him to every week.

It was this last Sunday that God revealed to me why I cannot bring myself to buy an appliance for my “house”. There is regularly a particular girl who is the attendant on duty. She is a young mother of three, Hispanic, and fortunately for me, bilingual. The first time I saw her I spoke with her in light conversation. I didn’t think I would ever see her again. Then I saw her the next Sunday. We got into some deeper conversation just learning about her and trying to encourage her to persevere. A few more visits let me learn that she aspires to be a special education teacher but her English isn’t good enough to pass the community college placement tests so she has to complete a reading comprehension class before she can even think about enrolling. She is from Kankakee. She grew up here and her English still isn’t very good. Like I said, I am a minority. Then the next Sunday I didn’t see her. It must have been her day off. Dang! I wanted to find out how her class was going. Oh well, laundry it is. This last Sunday I went in not thinking about Becky but rather I was focused on some quiet time to read my Kindle while multi-tasking the laundry chore. When I walked in the little Hispanic girl behind the bullet-proof attendants’ station started waving enthusiastically, “Hi! Hi! I haven’t seen you in awhile. I have been wondering when I was going to get to see you again!” I was totally taken off guard and by surprise. It has been awhile since someone was super excited to see me. “Oh! Hi…” and the conversation took off. It ended with me offering to help her with her reading class and her discouragement in failing was lifted. Cool things. Cool things happen when you step out of your comfort zone. Becky is not the only way God has edified me through the laundry mat. One visit allowed me to watch Oprah with an elderly-ish African-American man. Martha Stewart taught us how to perfectly fold the fitted sheet. We both had a “well would you look at that” giggle and shared a confirming confession through eye contact that it was to labor intensive for either one of us. He went back to his laundry stating that he thought he would keep his way and I agreed. I personally do not see anything wrong with rolling it into a big ball and shoving it on the shelf anyways. Once when my kids went with me we were surrounded by a handful of African-American kids. All of the kids played together happily and even felt so comfortable with us that they were sharing my space like I was their sister or something. I have tried to speak to some Hispanic women but we just end up cracking up that none of us can understand what the other wants to say. I have been graciously saved by an African-American woman who did not speak English. She walked all the way across the room to show me that the dryer I was going to use was “out of order”. She had no particular need or reason to do that. She was simply there to do her laundry too.

During this whole experience the most profound thing has been taught to me by my 4 year old daughter. Lexi is our butterfly chaser. She exudes love and she loves people. She can make friends anywhere. What she has taught me has actually had me using African-American instead of black in reference to some people. Its not that African-Americans are offended if you call them black, most are not offended. That’s not the lesson though. The reason why I refer to them as African-American is because Lexi CANNOT see their black skin. Whenever I refer to an African-American as black she argues that they are not black. Their skin is brown. Just like ours, only dark brown. She has made a new friend at Sunday school who she lovingly calls her friend with the brown skin. That was the final revelation. I am no different than the rest of the patrons of the “Laundry Basket”. How can I possibly show the love of Christ if I stay within my own social circle. How can I possibly show the love of Christ if all I see are segregated groups and not necessarily in a racial profile way but simply in a different-then-me way. As much as I was open to being there because God wanted me there I still saw “Black”, “Mexican” and felt very “White”. Laundry outside my home is a chance for ministry. I love this ministry which, I guess, means that I now love to do laundry. For now, we will not be purchasing a new washer/dryer unit. God works in mysterious ways….