I coined a phrase today as I headed to the shower after my morning exercise.
“Bathmat Grace”
As I prepared to step into the bathtub I saw the rubber mat that needs to be spread in the bottom of the tub lest one wants to slip and slide right into an emergency room visit. It was neatly tucked away behind the faucet right where I always find it first thing in the morning. Right where my husband rolls it up and tucks it away when he is done with his daily shower. Don’t look too closely at the photo or you will see that this poor bathmat is desperately in need of being replaced. But until we buy a new one, this one will be lifted from its place at the bottom of the tub every time my husband is done with his shower. I can almost guarantee that if you check out our tub an hour after I have finished with my shower you will find the mat still suctioned to the tub. You see, my husband patiently explained to me how the mat can grow moldy if left in the tub and how it would last longer if I would lift it up and let it air dry between showers. It sounded like a good idea but I think the only time I have ever remembered to do it was today when I needed to stage this photo after having my “epiphany moment”. You see once I step out of the tub I don’t tend to look back. I don’t think about reaching back in and picking up that wet rubber mat. I am grabbing for towels and the hair dryer and thinking about the next thing I need to cross of the to do list for the day.
And you know what? When I go to get in the tub the next day, that mat is all dry and tucked away in its little home. And I don’t think my husband has ever once nagged me about the mat, or complained to me for leaving it in the tub after my shower, or the fact that he is the one that ALWAYS ends up taking care of it. In this one area of our home he has daily extended grace to me and just taken care of it himself. Does it irritate him that I don’t remember to do what he thinks should be done with it? Maybe. But he has not shared that with me verbally and not even in little sighs of exasperation or exaggerated banging of rubber against porcelain tile. There have been no snide remarks of my shower slacking. He has just extended grace and decided that love will cover this and he will keep no account of my wrongs with regards to our sad looking Rubbermaid rectangle.
Today I felt an incredible wave of thankfulness towards my husband and his extension of grace towards me and a nagging question, “Do I willingly extend such ´bathmat grace´ to him in other areas?” What about with my children, or friends, or those at church? Am I easily irritated when things aren’t done exactly the way I think they should be? Do I find some not so subtle nonverbal ways to let others know that once again they have disappointed me?
I have a feeling every time I unroll that rubber bathmat and get ready for a bath or shower I will be reminded to show my loved ones a little more grace. And that can hardly be a bad way to start the day.
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