rb31day9

My post about our new house conjured up quite a bit of feedback from those of you who live in the UK. The glorious gift in blogging is the way it breaks barriers of distance and culture to connect people.

When I mentioned the lack of a clothes dryer in the house, I learned that there is something called a hot press, a closet next to the water heater with shelving. Who knew?

A friend writes, “After you take the damp/wet clothes in after 3 days on the “line”, you iron all of them and put them in the hot press where they will lose the dampness that gives them the nice moldy smell if not dried entirely. The hot press is a life saver!! Some people like to ferment their beer in there too. The possibilities are endless.”

Interesting? Fascinating? More like what in the world?

And this, from a US military chaplain living in the UK, “Get a condenser dryer. It takes more time to dry then US dryers, holds less, and you have to empty the water container every two or three loads, BUT it needs no vent and will plug into any UK outlet.”

Obviously, a dryer without a vent is of higher value than actually drying your clothes in a timely manner. See what I’m learning here people? I will need to hire someone once a week to empty the water container on the dryer every few hours. You all know how distraction is my middle name, right?

When a close friend wrote, using the term white electrical goods in a sentence, H did what all good husbands do. He Googled it.

It turns out there are white goods—major appliances, brown goods—small appliances and shiny goods—consumer electronics (or all the stuff that matters to my son).  See how I taught you something there?

And for an added bonus, we discovered an electric chimney is also a hood over the stove.

Wearing damp clothes could be the new vogue, that’s the kind of stuff I’m pondering now. That and how the English language can seem so foreign.

Another friend wrote to tell me she washes her clothes in the shower each week. She wasn’t complaining, just making a comment.

Cue crickets chirping.

And my heart being humbled.

I know, this is a first world problem, this need for comfort and security. Truthfully, when I got her email about washing clothes in a bucket, I repented. I asked God to forgive me for putting ALL THE THINGS on the top of my list instead of trusting Him with my idealism.

And when I hear from friends in the US, I get loads of empathy (which I covet, let’s be honest).

Seriously, one friend wrote something profound that brought tears when I read it. “Don’t compare, though – don’t diminish your loss. It’s still a gift that God values because it means something to you to let it go for Him. I’m right there with you.”

rb31day8perspective

Sacrifice looks different for everyone but the pain in letting go is common to all of us.

By giving a mite, the widow gave all of herself. When we compare the offering, we diminish the value and the beauty of redemption in testing.

What I consider a sacrifice, you choose as a way of life and vice versa.  While I gasp at the hole under the sink absent a dishwasher, many of you wrote saying that you’ve hand washed dishes all your life and find the sink an altar of quiet contemplation.

Mostly, your responses are a great awakening that all of life teeters on perspective. The way we respond when our perspectives don’t match is what matters most to Jesus.

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I won’t be sharing my posts on social networking channels daily because who wants to see that much of me, really? If you want to follow our adventure to London subscribe to the blog in the side bar and posts will slide quietly into you inbox. Start from the beginning of the series here.