W-1621

This is a conversation between Jesus and Fran. What Jesus says to Fran is true to Scripture, but it is also simply my imaginary conversation. The truth I want to convey is that for born-again believers, we have the incredible privilege of living in the presence of Jesus, because his Spirit is within us and he never leaves us. I want to encourage you to practice the presence of Jesus, and let him speak to you through his Spirit and his Word.

Fran looks at the clock. “Ten o’clock, and I still haven’t done the ironing,” she says to herself, wearily. But knowing the kids don’t have anything ready to wear tomorrow, she sets up the ironing board in front of the television and prepares to iron while watching the late news.

Alice’s clothes require extra time, but she likes for her to look nice. Drew’s clothes are much easier, but a pair of jeans every day still causes a heavy ironing load. Slowly she presses her silk blouse; she loves this blouse, but it does take extra care.

The news goes off, but Fran is still ironing. At 11 o’clock, she says “Well, I’ll finish this ironing tomorrow morning. I’ll have to get up early. Right now I’ve got to get that bathroom clean.” She invited some friends from work over tomorrow evening for a light dinner–something she’s been wanting to do. She spent the entire evening making some salads and trying to get the house looking perfect.

She tackles the bathroom with fervor, scrubbing and scouring to make it sparkle. After putting away all the cleaning stuff, she wearily dresses for bed. “I’m not going to even bother taking off my makeup,” Fran decides, as she sets the alarm a half-hour earlier and crawls into bed. “Oh, Lord,” she starts to pray as she lays her head on the pillow, “I need your strength. Help me to get up in the morning and get everything done before tomorrow night. And please bless our time together tomorrow; I want my home to be a testimony and I want to share you with the people at work. Thank You . . . ” but before she can complete the sentence, she falls asleep, exhausted.

The next morning when the alarm goes off, Fran jumps like she was shot. “What–what is it?” She gradually realizes it is the alarm clock. “Oh my goodness,” she says out loud, “What time is it?” Turning on the light, she remembers she had set the clock early in order to get everything done before leaving home.

“Oh, I just can’t get up yet,” Fran says, and crawls back under the covers, pulling them over her head. She stays there for twenty minutes, feeling guilty because she knows she needs to get up, but resisting putting her feet on the floor with everything in her. Finally, she manages to sit up in bed.

“I am so tired,” she says. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it today. I think every bone in my body is aching.”

Stumbling downstairs into the kitchen, she puts a cup of water in the microwave for tea. “Gotta get a cup of tea before I can do anything,” she thinks. “Come on, hurry up,” she mumbles to the microwave. That three minutes to boil water seems like an eternity to Fran.

Finally, with tea in hand, she looks into the family room and notices the ironing board still standing where she left it last night. “Oh, no,” she says out loud, “I forgot about that ironing. Wearily, she turns on the iron and sits down to wait. She senses a presence nearby, and realizes Jesus is there. “Oh, good morning, Lord,” she says.

“Good morning, Fran,” he replies. “You look a little harassed today.”

“Yeah, well I’m just tired. But I hope to have some quiet time to spend with you before I get off today–soon as I get this ironing done,” she quickly adds, with an apologetic tone.

“Fran, I understand your need for more sleep and I know that you’re tired. I’m here with you all the time, just remember that,” he says to her.

And with those words of comfort, Fran heaves a sigh and relaxes her shoulders. She then realizes how uptight she was, with all of her muscles flexed and her teeth clenched. “I guess I’m a little stressed out, Lord,” she quietly admits to him.

“Yes, and it’s understandable, isn’t it?” Jesus responds, as Fran gulps down the last of her tea and begins to iron.

“What do you mean?” Fran asks Jesus.

“I mean, you’ve been going at quite a pace lately. It’s understandable that your body is rebelling against it,” Jesus replies. “Do you remember that when I was here on earth in a body like yours, I took rest periods?”

“Sure, but you had twelve disciples who did all the little stuff,” Fran responds defensively. “If I had someone to clean and cook and do the little stuff, I could rest once in a while, too.” Hearing her words, Fran feels very ashamed, but Jesus doesn’t react to her words.

“Sorry, Lord, I know that wasn’t true or nice. I’m sorry,” she says. “But honestly, as a woman and a mother, there are just so many little things that I’m responsible for, and if I don’t do them, the place would shut down. I don’t think men understand that sometimes.”

“You mean, like ironing?” Jesus asks.

“Yes,” Fran replies, as she starts on the second pair of Drew’s jeans. “Who would iron these jeans if I didn’t?”

“Maybe they don’t need ironing,” Jesus responds quietly.

“You mean let my kid go to school in wrinkled jeans? Oh, no; I’m not letting down my standards. My kids are going to look good,” Fran says, very self-righteously.

“Well, why do you have to iron them this morning?” Jesus asks.

“Because I’m having some friends over tonight from work, and I’ve got to get this all done before they get here,” Fran answers.

“Why?” Jesus asks.

“Why? Well, because . . . well, what would they think . . . well . . . ” Fran pauses as she tries to come up with a logical explanation. “I guess, Lord, it really wouldn’t matter whether the ironing was done or not.” This is a totally new thought for Fran: She could leave something undone.

“Why am I so obsessed with being the perfect housekeeper? Why do I focus so much time and energy on these things?” Fran asks, stopping to think about it for the first time.

“Perhaps,” Jesus responds gently, “you’ve taken some pride in being perfect. Perhaps you iron those jeans for you, not for Drew. Perhaps your own self-image is tied up in your performance. Perhaps it’s time for some serious re-evaluation of your priorities.”

Fran feels so overwhelmed by what Jesus has just said to her that she turns off the iron and sits down on the sofa. It’s almost more than she can comprehend. But she begins to get a glimpse of what he’s saying to her.

“Lord, I’ve had pride in my heart about my ability to cope, to handle everything, to have perfect children and a perfect house. I never realized it before,” Fran admits to Jesus. “I want to show off my kids and my house tonight; that’s what I’ve been thinking. My motives are all wrong.”

Seeing herself in this way upsets Fran, but Jesus says to her, “No, no, Fran; all your motives aren’t wrong. You have good motives, too. You want those people from work to know me; you want to be a good friend; you want to share what I’ve given you. It’s just that, intermixed with the good motives are usually some others that need to be swept out.”

Fran looks at Jesus. “You aren’t condemning me, are you? You know my heart; you know how proud I am; you know how self-serving my motives tend to be, but you are not condemning me.”

“There is no condemnation for you because you are in me, Fran,” Jesus reminds her.

“Yeah, Romans 8:1–I know that verse; I’ve memorized it. But it just dawned on me that you don’t look for ways to condemn me. You aren’t trying to place guilt on me, even when I deserve it,” Fran says.

“No, my desire for you is that you will be conformed to my image, and that’s a growing process, Fran,” Jesus reminds her.

“So,” Fran replies, “you let me see things little by little, as I can handle them, in order to help me become more and more molded in your image. And now, you want me to take a serious look at my priorities as a working mom, and make some choices. Is that right, Lord?”

“Absolutely right, Fran,” Jesus looks at her with a broad smile. “Don’t you remember? You’ve been praying Romans 12:1-2 every day for quite a while now, and I’m answering your prayer.”

“You mean offering my body as a living sacrifice and asking you to help me not to be conformed to this world but to transform me by renewing my mind? Yes, I have been praying that, and I meant it,” Fran says excitedly, “But I just didn’t realize my prayers were being answered.”

“When you ask anything in my name, I will hear and answer,” Jesus reminds her.

“Please help me, Lord, to clean up my motives,” Fran asks with sincerity.

“I will continue to do so,” he assures her. “And as you see this more clearly, you’re going to be able to make better and better priority decisions, which means you’ll know when to put the ironing board away and let Drew wear jeans right out of the dryer.”

Fran laughs. “Okay, no more ironing today. Away with this board. Whoopee!” she says as she puts it up.

“Hey, Mom, what’s the matter?” A sleepy-eyed Drew walks in just as Fran is celebrating.

“Oh, honey, did I wake you up? I’m sorry. I was just talking to myself–and talking to Jesus, too,” she gives him a big hug. “I guess it’s almost time you were up anyway. Is Alice awake yet?”

“Nope; she’s still a sleepy-head,” Drew replies. “You were talking to Jesus? What do you mean?”

“Well, I just mean that since Jesus is with us all the time, we can talk to him wherever we are,” Fran tries to answer very simply.

“But you were ironing. You can’t talk to Jesus when you’re ironing, Mom,” Drew responds. “You have to have your Bible and bow your head and close your eyes. In fact, you should be in church!”

“Oh, Drew, let me tell you something wonderful,” Fran says, as she takes his hand and sits on the sofa with him. “Jesus is not only our Savior and our God, but he is also our best friend. And he has told us we can talk to him anytime, anywhere. And that means, even when I’m ironing, I can talk to Jesus.”

“Are you serious, Mom? That doesn’t sound right,” Drew questions Fran.

“But it is right. The Bible tells us he will never leave us or forsake us,” Fran says. “That means, Drew, that when you’re at school, you can talk to Jesus. When you have a problem, and you can’t talk to me because I’m at work or something, guess what?”

“I can talk to Jesus,” Drew answers.

“You got it,” Fran says as she squeezes his hand. “I can’t be with you all the time, but Jesus can. You know, Drew, I talk to Jesus at work all the time.”

“You do? But what does everybody else think when they hear you talking to Jesus?” Drew asks in simple child-like reality.

“Well, they can’t see Jesus or hear him talk to me, but I can still talk to him,” Fran explains. “And even though they can’t see or hear me talk to Jesus, I’m sure they can tell the difference in me when I talk to Jesus and when I don’t.”

As they’re talking, Alice walks in rubbing her eyes. “How come nobody woke me up? What’s going on?” she asks.

“Oh, come here, sweetheart,” Fran gathers her on the sofa with Drew. “We were just having a little conversation about talking to Jesus.”

“Yeah, Alice,” Drew jumps in, “guess what? Mom says I can talk to Jesus when I’m at school. I don’t even have to have my eyes closed.”

“Me too? Me too, Mommy? I want to talk to Jesus at school,” Alice looks at Fran with those big wide eyes.

“Yes, darling, you too. When Jesus is our Savior, we can talk to him all the time,” Fran replies.

The three of them spend a few precious, memorable moments together on the sofa, before they start their busy day. Fran tucks that morning away into her file of unforgettable experiences, and thanks Jesus over and over for this incredible opportunity to share something so important with her children.

And the lesson that Fran teaches her children is far more important than getting the ironing done, which is a great lesson for Fran to learn.