Getting “loaded”

When someone is “loaded” it can mean a variety of things as it is slang for having had lots of alcohol, or it can be slang for having lots of money. It can also mean, if someone has a “loaded” gun, that it is full of bullets. But to a toddler, being “loaded” means only one thing. And there is no confusion.

“Uh oh, time to changer her diaper”, one of us will say, because we have noticed that little miss, who does not like to stay long when she is “loaded” is “wide leg” walking or standing with her legs apart and pointing at her diaper.
When she is “loaded” she makes sure we know, so there is a swift resolution.
I like thinking about how each of us is “loaded” with grace and when we acknowledge it, we can also expect swift resolution. Whatever it is that is good, that we need to do, we can expect resolution, without harm to ourselves, because we are “loaded” with the grace we need.

People who work hard will be “loaded” because it is the natural result of using talents and abilities and it can allow us to be a blessing to others. Like how it is for a baby, we can know that being “loaded” is natural and is even expected and has a good purpose. The ways we get “loaded” might change as we mature, but the grace we need is always there for speedy resolution, or to facilitate good towards others.
A baby who is “loaded” is not usually able to do anything for herself, she has to be patient and wait for someone else to take action. With grace, we also often have to wait and be patient, in order to see resolution to some problem.
As an example, recently my son and daughter in law, whom I have been visiting to help with the baby, were talking to me about their washing machine and drier because it is a two-in-one machine that does both functions. I am not a fan of this machine because it takes way too long and because I do not think it does a good job of washing (because the clothes are not put in an agitator) or drying, (because the clothes are still damp and seem to “be loaded” with lint). The machine has two jobs to do and I do not think it does either job well.
While here, every morning as I get up, I am finding my blue fuzzy sweater style pajamas that I wear to bed loaded with lint, and I must tediously pick the lint out of the shirt, (mentally cursing that “washer/drier combo machine), thinking that it must have left lint all over the sheets.

I also think that there is no point in washing the sheets again because the whole problem with the machine, in my opinion, is the lint, and the time it takes.
But every morning, as is my routine to start my day right, I say my morning prayer and then pick a randomly chosen bible verse. I have been having a healing of a sinus problem and the bible verse I just picked, is where Jesus said to the woman at the well to “give me to drink”. So when I went in the middle of the night to take a hot bath, I drank water. I believe I have been given the grace for a healing.
But then when I was putting back on my blue shirt, oh brother, I saw all that fuzzy lint again . As I was picking it out, instead of being frustrated as I had been the past few days, I was patient and let the grace just fill me with peace.

As I pulled out the last piece of lint, I suddenly realized that the fuzz I was seeing, was actually coming from a fuzzy white sweater that my daughter in law had given me that I had left on the bed. The fuzz was from that sweater, not the washing/drying machine. Grace, that came from being patient and from praying regularly, helped me change my perspective and gain understanding, and it made me laugh (because my son LIKES that silly machine).

It might seem like a small or simple thing, and I still do not love that machine, but it is funny how all those days where I had been blaming one thing for the lint, something else was the source. My impatience was a waste of my time.

Sometimes life is like that…something we think is frustrating us, is actually not the source of the real frustration but is actually a gift. Once we recognize the gift as such, the frustration just melts away.

It is wonderful to have the new idea that “being loaded” with grace, helps us to be patient, and trust that good is in play, not just now, but every day.