How Not to Clean a Toilet

When Greg and I married twenty-years ago I had no clue how to clean a house. Among our wedding gifts were a variety of tools and cleaning products to scrub an apartment top to bottom. The one thing we did not have was a toilet bowl brush.

Imagine my surprise six months later when I over heard co-workers discussing cleaning their bathrooms.

There is a brush?

You do what with the brush?

I sat at my desk in horrified silence. I never knew!

The next day was Saturday and Greg was gone for the day. Armed with my arnesal of cleaning products and gadgets I attacked the bathroom and tub (yeah, didn't know it was suppose to be cleaned too).

I still didn't have a brush.

Didn't know where you went to buy such a thing.

Everything sparkled. All that was left was the final flush of the toilet.

While putting the gadgets and cleaners away, there came a loud knocking at my door. Looking through the peep-hole it was a big gruffy, unhappy looking man. There was no way I was opening the door to the likes of him and whatever he was selling.

He would not go away.

"If you don't open the door I'm coming in with the pass-key. You've flooded the toilet in the apartment down stairs."

I don't know if it was his irratated voice of authority or the embarassment of him yelling for the whole complex to hear that made me open the door. Once inside I pleasantly escorted the man to my nice, clean, sparkly bathroom. He inspected and asked if I had any problems to which I told him with my pride swelling, no I had just finished cleaning the bathroom.

"You do know you're not suppose to flush paper towels down the toilet."

It wasn't a question.

Then I did it. I lied.

I told the grumpy man I had not flushed paper towels.

It took me a couple of hours to realize he knew the truth--he was the one cleaning up the downstairs apartment! Yes--young and slow.

Having the right tools and cleaners does not matter if they are not used properly. I learned the hard way. Nowadays we have several bathrooms which I have a goal of cleanly weekly and occasionally have to call a plumber to plunge. Like the time our daughter poured a new box of Q-tips in and flushed and when our son flushed an apple and it got stuck. The plumber is not grumpy these days--and neither would I be with the checks I've written to him!

Learning to clean the bathroom taught me an important lesson--the need for mentors in my life. Marriage and children do not come with instruction manuels, but God has provided us with His Word and the command to mentor and be mentored (Titus 2). Take time to listen to the wisdom godly Christian women have--the Lord will use them to speak life into your marriage, children, and heart.
Don't wait until life is overflowing!