I'm notorious for washing and drying my dress shirts and then allowing them to accumulate before getting out my iron and ironing board. I figure there's no since in ironing just two or three shirts, so I have convinced myself that I prefer to iron 10-12 shirts and maybe listen to a sermon or TED Talk while I'm building back my selection of shirts for the next work week. My system for ironing placed me in a fine predicament a couple of months ago, which led to some truly squeaky, clean dress shirts.
As my normal routine, I got out the ironing board, the iron, and my can of spray starch, or maybe I should say what I thought was my trusty spray can of Faultless Niagara Heavy Duty Starch. (Note: I was sharing this story with some younger folks and they had no idea what "starch" was. If that term is foreign to you my suggestion would be Google it.) I cranked up a sermon on Alexa and dove right in on my blue and white pinstripe button down shirt. Sleeve one, left side with the shirt pocket, back of the shirt, right side, and then finishing up with the right side of the shirt, one of twelve done! Once you get in a rhythm ironing becomes a methodical chore, you just have to be careful not to create more creases than wrinkles that existed before ironing took place.
I had reached shirt number eleven when I finally stopped long enough to notice that my spray can of starch was looking kinda peculiar. I spun the label and much to my chagrin, I had grabbed the bottle of spray glass cleaner that I keep on the same shelf with my starch. I had just completed ironing eleven dress shirts with an aerosol can of window cleaner. I looked the shirts over, no staining. I smelled the shirts, no bad odors. So, I placed shirt number twelve on the ironing board and finished out the dozen shirts with the window cleaner, no sense in grabbing the starch for one last shirt! As I was ironing the last white button down, I had to snicker a bit to myself at what I had just done. I mean lots of potential problems could have occurred, yet in this instance no harm, no foul. End result one dozen "squeaky clean" dress shirts.
I was fortunate that the window cleaner didn't stain my shirts or cause a fire, (I don't know if that's even possible, I just tried to think of what might have possibly happened.) In my mind I was doing the right thing, I have ironed my dress shirts for years and to me there wasn't anything different about the spray that was coming out of the can that resembled starch.
That incident caused me to give a reflection on how it is important that we all slow down and do an analysis of what we invest our time and energy in and assure we aren't spending our time and energy on things that aren't beneficial and productive in a positive manner. While we are hurrying around in all our "busyness", it is possible that we may miss out on what our true purpose is and what we should really be doing. Proverbs 14:12 warns us that "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death." And Proverbs 11:24 explains that, "One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty." You see at times we are doing what we think we are expected to do, or possibly we just get caught up doing what is perceived to be the acceptable thing to do, but it can lead to devastating results.
Stop, reflect, and then analyze your actions and the motives behind your choices and plans. If things don't appear to be lining up with the examples given to us in God's Holy Bible then it may be time to "iron" out some new paths and choices.
Coach Carter
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