How Long Lord?

I'm sure many of you have asked this for a variety of things over your lifetime - regardless of how long or short that has been. As I hung up the phone from the place I bought my washing machine from I asked the same thing. The conversation that followed (all in my head of course) was interesting; both humorous and insightful. So I started with the washing machine. I chose one that is fully automatic - now for those of you living in most cities in the US, you are asking, is there another kind. Oh yes, there sure is. The style I've seen in many of the houses I've been in isn't fully automatic. There are two compartments, 1) does the washing (one family does their whites first so that they can use the same water to do their colors - maybe some of you would find that a good thing too, it saves on soap) and 2) does all the spinning. I'm not sure I understand how using the same soapy water for two loads works, unless you pull out all the clothes and rinse them by hand - which to me isn't worth saving the soap. At any rate, after the washing and rinsing is done, you load them into the spin compartment (which they call the dryer) and it really does a good job of spinning out the water, leaving some things feeling nearly dry. The problem, you need to be there for each step.

Now, most people, even those with little income, have house help. And there also seems to be little reason for the lady of the house to go out. Both of these pretty much guarantee that there is someone around to tend to the laundry. Oh, there is another problem, electricity. When I first arrived, you could pretty much set your clock by it. At noon the power would shut off until 4 pm. Then again in the late evening (midnight) for I'd say roughly 2 hours - I'm not normally up to see when it returns. So, if you are washing your clothes and the power goes, and you have a semi automatic machine, what happens? It's my understanding that you have to start over. But the fully automatic removes all these problems. :) It's pretty much like the average American washing machine. Add your soap and water, start it up, put in your clothes, it washes and spins (various settings depending upon clothes you are washing) just like you'd expect. But when the power goes off and comes back on (we've entered into a new season when the power is starting to randomly go off at some additional times as well as the regular) it remembers right where is left off and completes the load.

But remember, I'm still waiting on my machine, and it's been 24 days. I was told two. :) So my washing goes more like this...while the bucket is filling with water, I add in the detergent. Once it's full, I add in like colored clothes and stir with my American style broom handle. Then I let them soak a little. I go back a few times, in-between doing something else, stirring. Fortunately my clothes don't tend to have a lot of stains on them, so it's more a matter of getting the days dust off of them (though temps are now in the 90's for a high, I've been able to stay relatively cool - so far). Once I feel this has been achieved, I dump the water, start filling the bucket with clean water, squeeze out each item (have you ever tried squeezing out a full size bed sheet?), trying to remove any excess soapy water and drop it into the bucket again (by the way, this is a rather big bucket). Again, swishing it all around with the broom handle and again dumping it out and squeezing out the water. I do this a few times until there doesn't appear to be anymore soap. Then I give each item an extra good squeeze and carry it out to the balcony where I have my clothes drying rack. Up the items go and clothes pins are used to try to keep the items in place. On a good day (since I'm right off the river, most days are good) they are dry in 1/2 a day. Which is still better than the alternative.

So, I have diverged a little - I didn't have this entire conversation in my head, but felt it was good to paint a fuller picture. As I was wondering how long I'd have to wait, I was thinking of the people I'm living among. It's been said that it can take as long as 7 years for eyes to be opened to the Truth. By comparison, waiting a month for a washing machine seems like so little. And as much as I'm eager to receive it, think of how eager God is to receive His children into the Kingdom.

Lord, I'm not asking for patients, I'm asking for the same passion and excitement I have for this machine to be put towards the people I am living among in their understanding and love for you.