ten things not having a dryer taught me

For the last two months I did not have a working dryer.

I’ve chosen not to mention it, not to write about it, not to tweet it {except when it broke and when we were having someone come look at it}, and not to complain about it to you all. Here’s why — I felt like I was to learn something in this experience and that learning meant I needed to be quiet about the whole scenario.

Here are 10 things I learned.

1. We produce a lot of laundry. Our family of nine has the incredible capacity to produce an incredible amount of laundry every single day. I realized I was grumbling {which wasn’t getting me anywhere} so instead of complaining, I began to take those complaining moments and instead set my mind to be being grateful and praying for those without clothing. And, I prayed for each member of my family as I hung each and every clothing item.

2. I can do things that I thought I could never do. Do you ever have that? Those times where you think I could never do that and then you go and surprise yourself by actually doing, actually living without something that you thought you could never live without? If someone had told me that I wouldn’t have a dryer for two months I would have flat out told them that I could not do that. Not with seven children. And yet, here I am two months later, on the other side telling you that I did live without a dryer and we had clean clothes. 🙂

3. I take for granted things in my life. See point two. Like a dryer.

4. I complain too much about things that are ultimately blessings. Again. See points two and three. I complained and complained and complained about doing laundry for years {and yes, there are numerous posts on this blog about my laundry woes}. And yet, laundry is actually a blessing. Having a dryer is a blessing. A washing machine? Blessing. Yet, I was so stuck in the mundane aspects of the task that I chose to complain instead of being grateful.

5. It takes 24 hours for clothes to hang dry. I figured that out rather quickly. I developed a system {in my laundry room — it was winter here} for keeping up with laundry and rotating clothes and towels so that everything was clean. Oh yes, and socks? They are still my nemesis. I am trying to be grateful for two buckets of socks to fold, but sigh, and oh my, socks? They take so much time and patience. 🙂

6. I can keep up with laundry. I used to lament that we had way too much laundry to keep up with every week. Want to know a secret? The months where there was no dryer? I was never behind. And laundry was more work then before. Yet, my mindset regarding laundry changed and I never allowed myself to get behind. Ah, lesson learned.

7. I still prefer dryer dried towels. I’m just saying. I was grateful for clean towels, but towels that could stand up? Sigh. I did grumble a bit about that. Sometimes. And those pioneers? No wonder they disliked washday. They amaze me doing all that laundry and having everything so stiff.

8. I’m quickly discontent. Ouch. Humbling. So we have a friend who just gives our family a dryer of his {we’ve been saving to get a really good dryer versus just buying the cheapest, and expenses just kept popping up} this past weekend. While we were at the hardware store grabbing a piece for it I walked by those beautiful, large, super capacity, burgundy Amana front end loader washer and dryers. And, immediately, I started thinking that I needed one of those. How quickly I lost the gratitude for what I was just blessed with. You know what? I am grateful for that running dryer in my laundry room replacing the old one now sitting in the garage by the sled, shovels, and bikes. Grateful.

9. Laundry as prayer time. Every morning when I went to hang clothes and fold clothes I ended up having to pray. I was so easily grumbly. Complaining. Bitter. Angry. Frustrated. And, yet, I began to realize that the attitude was doing me no good. Was it super inconvenient? Absolutely. Did the Lord use a trying time to break down a bit of my pride? Absolutely. Did I begin to learn to appreciate simple things? Including things that I’ve complained about? Yes. And so I’d pray. I’d pray for a grateful, content, and joyful heart as I hung items of ours.

10. I love {I hope this lasts} laundry now. This morning, as I opened that gifted dryer, I was loving laundry. I loved pulling the clothes out, folding them, and stacking them in piles. Somehow not having a dryer was a reminder to me to be grateful for the little things in life that we take for granted. It was an eye-opening time into my own life and my own heart.

So now, today, laundry is back to normal. {thank goodness} We’ve still got our savings going for a new washer and dryer, but at this moment, I’m content with what’s down in that little laundry room of mine. Maybe I’ll have to redirect that money to a new swingset for the backyard. I’d rather have that then those new shiny Amana appliances anyway. 🙂

linking with Angie for Top Ten Tuesday

Walking The Visual Journey

If you’re following the Brave Art of Motherhood Visual Journey . . . Remember when I said Oreck really was the first company ti believe in me, and helped me begin my path?