Roomba

A couple years ago when I was living out at the trailer in Montbrook, I did my own housecleaning, and it never was too much of a dread for this reason...I wasn't a filthy person, so cleaning only took a couple hours....even with the roommate I had. Her name was Roomba. She wasn't from Africa though she sounds like she could have been. She was a clean freak I must say. I changed the bed linens, cleaned the sinks, mopped and dusted and left the vacuuming to her. She did a good job without a word of complaining.

Roomba was a robot. I bought her just because it gets a little rough toting a vacuum cleaner around in my lap from room to room, otherwise the cord and stuff got tangled in my wheelchair tires. When I first bought Roomba, I had to read the instructions and saw that she needed charging for a good 3 hours, so I plugged her in that first night I brought her home and got an eerie-feeling as I watched her glowing power light slowly pulsate, almost as if she were breathing. I thought, "Man, I hope this thing doesn't attack me during the night!" I started to shut my door, but I went on to bed and as the sun came up and brightened my room the next morning, I knew I had made it safely through the night without any attacks. I got up and put the batteries in the remote and read up on the virtual walls (two objects larger than a softball which you set it in any area you don't want Roomba to go). The virtual wall projects a hidden beam only Roomba can see, and when she "hits" the beam, she turns around and goes in another direction and continues her cleaning.

So it was time to put ole Roomba to the test. After I cleaned my sinks, dusted, and mopped my bathroom & kitchen floors, I set up my virtual walls in the particular areas where she wouldn't track in on them. I hit the power switch, and then the clean button on the remote and backed up. Roomba made a couple "beeping" sounds as though she understood, then she took off. I turned on the power around 1:30 that afternoon and she cleaned my floors like a pro (even under the beds) for about an hour and a half. Since I had told Mama about Roomba, she called to check and see if she was collecting any dust or dirt, but rather than stop her in the middle of cleaning, I waited until she was through...and then I opened the little "drawer" that contains the dirt/dust, and it was full. There's a little sign underneath the vacuum that says she "...appreciates a good cleaning of her brushes when she's through, and you can be sure she'll clean just as good the next time." It really was fun to watch, it was as if there really was a miniature person in the house. She'd bump into a piece of furniture and turn around and go in the opposite direction. She'd also take out and go underneath the bed. It was very important to check beforehand to make sure there was nothing on the floor she'd get tangled up in like cords (which I had placed on top of the beds and furniture). She would zigzag all around the room at first, almost as if she were programming herself with its dimensions, but she never missed a lick as you could see her track marks on the carpet and tell just where she had been. She even went into the corners cleaning. After she finished her job, she gave a couple beeps and shut off...and if she'd have had one, her tongue probably would have been hanging out.


I learned something spiritual from watching Roomba. Roomba, like myself, could do nothing for which she was created until she got plugged into an energy source. My energy source is Jesus Christ. I really came alive when I made Him Lord of my life. My spiritual battery gets a full charge when I read God's Word and daily commune with the Lord (prayer), then, when I run into temptations, the Word I've hidden in my heart let's me know when or if I need to turn in another direction. The Holy Spirit that resides within me acts as my virtual walls, and places a beam of conviction (and uneasy feeling) in my heart.


Are you sitting still as Roomba was in her box, and going nowhere in your life? Maybe you've already made a mess of your life as I had. It's never too lets to get started again. I promise. Get plugged in to the right source. Jesus Christ. He cleans like no other...soooo much more than even Roomba can.

Critters and Darkness

I was on Facebook last night and a friend posted one of those things you fill out on the "Top 5 Things....", and she put something in there that triggered a memory from the week before that I had happen to me. I may have to go out in left field to get there in telling it, but I will get there.

I woke up Easter Sunday morning when it was still dark outside. Nope, I didn't make the sunrise service as Pricilla did. I had to chuckle when she made the comment on Facebook..."I didn't realize sunrise service was so early." Trust me, I've only been to a sunrise service one time in my life years ago as a child. A family of seven we were back then...can you imagine loading up all seven in one car, one of those being in diapers to go to a half hour service? I recall thinking it was still nighttime when Mama woke us up, and that we should be sleeping...not waking up. We got to wear our pajamas. Back then you could pull up to the cemetery and sit in your car since they had a little PA system. Mama and Daddy used to be the only ones that went regularly from our immediate family, till they started taking the rest of us. They probably thought, "don't let that whole family get out the car, they'll wake the dead with their loud talking...let's get a PA system so they'll stay in their car." And that we did.



So, back to my story.... I had woke up early this particular morning to get a head start in making enough macaroni and cheese for our family when we came in from church. The alarm sounds and I get it shut off and turn on my lamp that sits on my nightstand, and try to adjust my eyes to the brightness. Don't you hate that? (Reminds me of growing up and mama would come wake us up by turning on our light and blinding us till we got on up.) I sat up in bed. Now mind you in my physical state, I always get halfway dressed in my bed since I cannot stand up. My clothes I lay out next to me the night before just because I am not going to get up into my chair and pick out my clothes, then get all the way back into bed and get dressed. You learn to do things to save time and energy. Normally during the week when I have to get ready for work, I flip on Fox News and watch it as I get dressed, but on Sunday's I usually turn on a church service or something. So here I sit up in bed getting dressed and listening to Charles Stanley preach the Word and something catches my eye in my peripheral vision. I look up in the corner of the wall that my bed backs up to, and notice a huge spider....one of those fast-moving kind. I hate spiders. I think I was scarred for life back in my early days right after I had my accident. I just want to add right here that our house isn't infested with critters, but one has gotten in from time to time. Spiders like to come out when it's dark. During the night years ago as I lay sleeping, I felt a spider run across my arm and I jumped up and turned my light on....and didn't see anything. So after about 10 minutes of being real good and awake, I shut my light off and try to settle back down...right. I'm just about asleep and I feel it run back across my arm again and I holler...but not much can be heard when Mama runs the loud fans down the hall. So, I sit up again and still see nothing. I'm scared to go back to sleep, but soon my eyes get heavy and since I haven't seen anything else, I shut off my light and soon fall back asleep. The next thing I know, I feel it go across my arm again and wham! I hit it and turn on my light and there it is curling up from being hit so hard. I flipped it off my bed and onto the floor. I decided to deal with its remains the next morning. I couldn't believe no one could hear all of this commotion going on in my room.

This Easter-morning spider decides to sit in the corner of the ceiling for a few seconds and I thought I best get dressed quickly so that I can get out of my room and get the bug spray. (Another reason why I miss my Father so much, he would be the one that would get any critters we might see, and kill them for us.) Every ten seconds or so, I look up to see where it's at and it has moved a little bit, so I dress a little faster and notice it keeps moving down the wall to the south end of my room where its darker. It's nice that it's moving away from me, but I know it could head into an area where I won't know where it went. It moves faster until I have to yell for Mama who was sitting in the living room reading her Bible. "Spider! Please bring the spray!" By this time he is heading down the wall and over toward my armoir where I have a set of suit cases sitting next to it against the wall. I kept saying, "Hurry up before it gets out of sight!" By the time she gets in there it is no where to be seen, but I tell her the last area I saw it and she sprays half a can of spray. I'm thinking that she must have seen it the way she sprayed, but she was just hoping the fumes would kill it, if anything. I had to hurry and get out of there myself because my ceiling fan was sending the fumes around my room until it was sure to leave me dead on my back with my legs stuck up in there air. She obviously got it because I never saw it anymore....or it lies lurking and growing as I speak.

Back before I got my little shed built that houses my stationery bike, it use to stay parked
in the garage and I would go out in the evening and ride it. Sometimes I would ride it when the sun was going down and I wouldn't think to turn on the garage lights since I could still see, but I also saw where the darker it started getting in there, these big spiders would come out from their little hiding places and the minute I'd turn the light on, they'd scurry for cover. Reminds me of the devil. His works are in darkness and when the light of the Lord shows up in a persons life, he can't stand it so he runs. Something about the light exposes things, and he doesn't like it. Speaking of the sinner (one without Christ), John 3:19-20 says, They are judged by this fact: The light (Jesus) has come into the world, but they did not want light. They wanted darkness because they were doing evil things. All who do evil hate and will not come to the light, because it will show all the evil things they do.


So if the light of Jesus shines within you, don't be surprised if some people get uncomfortable around you, your light may expose darkness. According to God's Word, it's only natural if it does. Or, the next time you flick on the lightswitch at your house, something maybe running for cover. Hopefully it wasn't what was in my house since I never saw it again...