With my humming bird feeders in need of a thorough cleaning, a little on-line investigation led me to “equal parts vinegar and water” or “1 to 10 parts bleach to water.”
I opted for the vinegar approach, but then ran into a problem. I did not have quite enough distilled vinegar to submerge the whole feeder.
“No problem!” I thought. “I’ll add a bunch of water and a dash of bleach.”
No problem quickly became big problem.
The toxic fumes cleaned out my sinuses and burned my eyes.
I knew to never mix bleach and ammonia, but I missed the lesson on never mix bleach with anything but water. I won’t need a second lesson on that one.
When it comes to those times when you’re running hard on the fumes of an empty tank, what’s a toxic mix for you? What puts you over the edge?
- A grad school thesis paper
- A child’s science project
- A temp of 102
- An annual report
- A clank in your car’s engine
- A bounced check
- A burnt meatloaf
A “toxic mix” landed Elijah under a broom tree wanting to die. The mix? Years of isolation and a death threat from the queen.
What’s the take home from this story in I Kings 19:3-12?
No shame. No blame.
We all have limits. We do.
Every single one of us has landed under the broom tree in one way or the other and we’ll all land there again.
Give yourself a break!
Somehow, and in some way, give yourself some breathing room.
Carve out an hour, or a day and take your clues from our buddy Elijah.
Pull yourself away from the madness and the grind. Take your pillow, some tasty treats and a heart ready to listen.
Then, rest well and listen carefully.
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