My husband occasionally does caption phone installations in people’s homes as part of his field technician duties. Many unique stories have come out of those home visits, one of which is especially memorable, but not for any warm fuzzy reasons.
One fine day he ended up in the home of a family of 5, which also included a hoard of clutter, several pets, animal waste and a delightful infestation of little creepy crawlies. The house reeked of cigarette smoke and animal urine. The sights and smells made his skin crawl and he was determined to finish his job and leave as quickly as possible. At one point, some boxes cluttering the path needed for wire connecting needed to be relocated, so he solicited the help of some of the family members. As soon as the boxes were moved, dozens of little roaches scurried in every direction to escape the invasion of their home. One of the children who was helping move the clutter suddenly became a pathway for the roach exodus. However instead of being frightened, the child looked down at the creatures crawling on her and said “Aww, hey little guys, so cute!”
My husband was not of the same sentiment and had an even greater urgency to accomplish the phone installation and vacate the premises. He was eventually called off the job because of the unsanitary working environment.
When he recounted the experience, we were both flabbergasted at how anyone could become so accustomed to such filth and actually find it appealing, even endearing!
Are there some little roaches in our lives, pests we’ve become comfortable with or even attached to?
Have we become okay with excessively negative conversations & mindsets, harmful habits & behaviors, or toxic relationships that should have been cleaned out long ago?
I had to learn the hard way that setting healthy boundaries from the get-go could have spared me a lot of drama, heartache and stress. I am still learning that.
These harmful things only strengthen their hold on us over time.
As those annoying infomercials always say, “don’t wait, call now…!” Nostalgic humor aside, please do not wait, take steps now to break away from the toxicity.
Embrace the freedom Jesus has for you, be clean and refuse to be a slave again.
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