Bleached, Sprinkled and Pressed

My daughter Sarah’s travel mug filled with tea leaked in her backpack on her new white top. After soaking it in bleach and washing it, the stain was removed. I decided to iron it damp since it was all-cotton and that’s when I had my nostalgic moment…

My childhood flashback was my mom at the ironing board, using the Pepsi bottle with the special top; sprinkling the cotton laundry with water and rolling it up in towels until she was ready to iron. I don’t think they’d invented steam & spray irons back in the 1960’s…

I love all things retro. I’m hooked on Mad Men, can’t wait for Pan Am to start, shop vintage stores and collect purses and jewelry from the past. I never used to enjoy a big pile of ironing, but there is something gratifying about taking an item of clothing from rumpled to smooth and crisp.

Bleached. Sprinkled. Pressed.

I feel a bit like a wrinkled blouse and yet despite my sins, I have been made white (thanks to Jesus), sprinkled (it rains/mists here in Washington), and pressed (hard by my circumstances).


"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.” 2 Chronicles 4:8

Lesson Learned: God is my/our ultimate “iron” and it takes time and pressure to remove stains and smooth out the wrinkles. I need to remember this uncomfortable time won't last long, and that just like the Brandon Heath song; He’s not finished with me yet.

In His Grip, Jane