The Saving Grace of a Shower
It’s the end of the day; I’m weary from unexpected demands, worn out from constant needs, and sensitive to every noise. Shuffling to my bedroom after putting the kids down for bed, I long for refreshment. There has not been a spare minute to pause yet again, or to process the happenings of my day. My heart is cluttered, my brain is fried, and somehow I need to prepare my heart to be present with my husband. How can I even begin to prepare for another day when this one hasn’t ended?
I feel despair from things I should have handled differently. I feel frustration that I didn’t get it all done. I feel lost and wonder how these daily rhythms can be sustained.
Then I take my shower.
The warm water running over all of my feelings allows me to pause and process. I am able to release and picture each care and worry drift down the drain, one trickle at a time. Simultaneously, my prayers lift up to the One who knows all things.
Aside from the known benefits of hygiene, my shower has become a non-negotiable daily rhythm. No matter what time of day, I consider it one of life’s finest luxuries. It’s protected quiet time (usually), providing a refuge to process, cry, and return to the woman I tend to lose under all of the hats I wear each day. Anyone else?
My love for showers began when I became a stay at home mom of three young kids.
Thinking back to those days living in Manhattan, I would hear my husband depart each morning at the crack of down for his midtown office. Alone with my kids, I wondered how to survive and steward the minutes until I heard my husband’s footsteps grace our presence again in the evening. Looking around the mere 1,000 square feet of living space we called home, the walls stared at me, threatening to close in and consume me altogether. I knew I needed a plan to give me purpose and endurance for the road ahead. This is where my daily survival plan was birthed:
Read God’s word and pray in the morning.
Plan one outing for the day.
Take a shower.
For over 10 years, I was either pregnant, nursing, or caring for a toddler in diapers, but this plan walked me through each day, one at a time. I often wondered what I would have to show for the days passing by like an express subway through a local stop. When it felt like no other box was checked, and I had nothing to show except toys strewn about, a sink full of dishes, and a frazzled bundle of nerves, it felt incredibly rewarding to claim the completion of a shower.
In those more trying seasons, some showers lasted what felt like hours while I literally sat down and cried, letting the water rush over my weary body. I didn’t have thoughts, just tears. Some showers were efficient and some were not, but each one had a purpose other than to just be clean, and I was thankful for it.
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Do you have a place where you go to just process life away from everyone? I am sure there is a list of dreamy settings we would all like to visit, but many are the days when I cannot escape to find quiet . It’s on those days that I recognize even more than a shower, is that I long for what the shower represents.
I need a pause. I need a reminder. I need a release.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 ESV
I need a pause, learning to be still.
I need a reminder, He is God.
I need a release, I can trust Him.
Throughout scripture water represents provision, cleansing, and life. It is no different now.
If you are feeling depleted, don’t forget the saving grace of a shower. A place to sit (or stand) alone in the quiet, to hear the voice of God over your own thoughts, to mentally and physically reboot with no temptation of the phone nearby.
Think of it as a shower of truth, a shower of encouragement, and a shower of reminders that this day too shall pass and has purpose in the big picture of my life.
Only then can we be ready to pour back out to love those around us.