A Dirty Refrigerator, a Greasy Stove, and a Dead Battery

Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen.  And not a minute too soon!  It had been a while - too long! - since this kitchen had a good scrubbing.

I started with the refrigerator, partly because that was the side of the room where I started, and partly because that seemed like the easiest task.  Wrong!  I discovered all kinds of interesting fuzzy stuff growing in containers that had been pushed to the back of the shelves.  And quite a number of items that were definitely past their best-if-used-by date.  And there were all the little spilled bits and stuck to the shelf bits.  Where does that stuff come from anyway?  The result is that there is a lot more space on my refrigerator shelves now, and those shelves are sparkly clean!!

As I worked my way around the kitchen, I eventually came to the stove.  Yuck!  A few nights ago I had cooked a pork tenderloin for dinner.  I seared it on the stove top and finished it off in the oven.  The searing on the stove top left lots of greasy splatters on the stove top, all of which apparently did not get wiped up!!  And, like the refrigerator, the stove hasn't had a good cleaning in a while now.  It's embarrassing to admit how long, so I just won't admit it!!  But trust me, it's been a while.  And the stove was dirty.  But now it is sparkly clean!

When we were eating lunch, Al said he was planning to start my car after lunch and let it run a while.  I have a really nice car, but I just don't drive it much, particularly in winter.  We typically use Al's car more often, since his is better equipped to handle our steep mountain road, especially in winter.  And it's just more convenient to use his, since it's parked on the carport right outside the back door.  Mine is parked in the basement garage, which means going down steps, which I don't particularly like to do.  More specifically, my knees don't like to do!  It's also less expensive to drive his, since it's a company car, and one of the benefits of his job is that company provides him a car and does a really good job of taking care of it.

Anyway, after lunch, Al went down to start the car.  And, as you may have guessed by the title of this post, it didn't start.  Dead battery.  The good news is, Al had backed the car into the basement garage, which made it possible to jumpstart the battery.

What's the common thread here?  What do a dirty refrigerator, a greasy stove, and a dead battery have in common?

I knew I needed to clean out the refrigerator; I just didn't do it.  I knew the stove was dirty; I just didn't know how dirty, so I didn't clean it.  I knew I needed the car needed to be driven, or at least started, but I didn't do anything about it.

At a quick glance, everything seemed OK.  It all looked pretty clean from a distance.  Up close, not so much.  The car looked great there in the basement garage.  Not even all that dirty.  Turns out appearances can be deceiving.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  (1 John 1:8-9 ESV)