Jaco is a beach town in Costa Rica, in case you're wondering. We went there last month and I'm pretty sure that three thousand granules of sand are still wedged in the crevices of my swimsuit. Between the fabric and such. Tenacious sand indeed. It finds itself a comfy spot and it just won't up and leave.
You're wondering if I've washed my suit. I did. I've done all of the classic treatments for ridding a swimsuit of sand. But this stuff is thick, notrorious, on a mission. And it's always a surprise when I take off my swimsuit in a new country to find "Oh, hey… you're still there.."
Unfortunately, immigrant sand isn't the only thing that's hiding in my belongings. There's a lot of hurt, lies, and preconceived notions that I carry in the crevices of my heart.
Like a traveling circus.
No one wants sand in their suit… No one wants dirt in their heart either, drying and caking on their veins, making it hard to love with a full capacity. It makes it hard enough to love oneself, never mind a whole team, squad, village where we're living.
So when you take a moment to examine yourself and see the old and the ugly things from days gone by and you say, "Oh hey… you're still there.." maybe it's time to clean it up.
Can I call God the granddaddy of all washing machines? But he doesn't throw it in and put turn on the Super Wash cycle and go back to reading a magazine. No, he stands there and does the laundry by hand, tenderly soaking and scrubbing out the dirt. The process is long but he doesn't get tired, and if you let him he'll get every last sand biscuit out, one at a time. And you'll wonder why you ever spent your quarters anywhere else.
Jaco isn't just a place in Costa Rica. There's probably a Jaco in your life and you're probably carrying sand, and either it's itchy and irritating, or it leaves its mark on your skin when you take the suit off… a reminder of where you've been, what you've walked through.
The ladies in Nicaragua wash everything by hand. So right now I do too, early in the morning so that they can dry out all day. But the cool thing about God is that the Son is always shining and he's open 24 hours a day. There isn't a stain that he didn't already die for.
