Laura L. Smith
  • Home
  • Books
  • Blogs
  • Speaking
  • Contact Laura

STINKY SPORTS BRAS

9/29/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sports bras are funky, cool, and functional, but sometimes they sure stink!
​​My daughters and I don’t perspire. We sweat.

After an intense summer of ninety-five degree runs, soccer practices, Zumba classes, and training sessions, we collectively created enough sweat and stench to rival the toxins of the local trash heap.

Unfortunately, so had our sports bras. I know they’re made out of some high tech fabrics that maximize comfort and movement during workouts, but that same fancy material seems to be a body odor sponge. Washing them was not doing the trick. They’d come out of the laundry cleaner, but still reeking of sweat. It was time to take some serious action. I tried drying them with fabric softener sheets, even though they’re never supposed to go in the drier. Desperate times call for desperate actions. Sadly, it was a fail. Once the humidity level dropped enough that I could actually walk outside without becoming instantly soaked, I tried drying the sports bras outside to air them out and let them soak in that fresh outdoorsy aroma. No luck. I tried sprinkling loads of laundry with lavender oil. Although the laundry room smelled lovely, the sports bras still came out of the machine putrid. By back-to-school our sports bras were so foul I wasn’t allowing them to be thrown in the hamper, because they were literally stinking up all of the other laundry. It was that bad. Nothing was working. Nothing.
Picture
When one thing stinks, it can stink up the whole heap!
​​I sat down my daughters and said, “I know our sports bras have all these fabulous colors like teal and hot pink. I know they have cool designs of squiggles and zebra stripes and dots. But I also know they smell to high heaven, and I haven’t been able to figure out a way to make them smell fresh again. I have one solution, but it’s risky. Bleach.”

Not being laundry experts they shrugged and asked, “Why’s that a problem?”
“Bleach is great at deep cleaning, but it literally takes color out of things, so our sports bras might have white spots or pale discolored patches, but come on, who sees them anyway? I think we need to try,” I answered.

They agreed and we ran the experiment. First round of sports bras bleached smelled…fresh. No way! It was true! Could it have been that easy all along?

And so now, the sports bras in question continue to go in with the whites, the towels, the sheets, the undershirts, and the Clorox. So far, none of them have come out faded, but they could at any time. And it would be okay, because we can actually put them on our bodies without cringing.
Picture
Jesus died on the cross to wash away our sins once and for all!
​The same is true for us and our sins. We all sin. We judge someone else while pumping gas because of the way they look or because of the music coming out of their car. We tell a white lie to cover up the fact that we forgot or were running late. We gripe about a co-worker or teacher or coach. We do worse things too, but big or small, often or rare it’s sin. And it stinks!

We can try all kinds of crazy things to cover up our sins—to make them “smell better”. We can tell a great story around them to try to make them more acceptable. We can confess them to a friend to try and air them out. We can promise to work faster, try harder, do more, but the truth is none of our attempts can get the sin out of our lives. That’s right. None of them. Nothing will work to get that stench out of our souls. -- except Jesus. 

In the same way Clorox literally pulls stench and stain out of clothing, Jesus pulls sin and all its nasty residue out of us; only He’s way better. He didn’t do it through a potent chemical, but through His blood. By dying on the cross, all of our stinky habits and smelly mistakes were bleached clean forever. Jesus washes us pure and clean any and every time we ask Him.

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Oh! Precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
 “Nothing but the Blood” by Robert Lowry, 1876

Are there any sins stinking up your life? Give them a spin with Jesus, and I promise you’ll feel cleansed.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Laura  L. Smith

    Subscribe

    * indicates required
    Email Format

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Adventures
    Allergies
    Apples
    Back Packing
    Baggage
    Basketball
    Batman
    Beauty
    Believe
    Bible
    Blogging
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Braces
    Brandi Chastain
    Breast Cancer Awareness
    Cafeterias
    Celebrating
    Change
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Coffee
    College
    Concert
    Contest
    Control
    Courage
    Created In God
    David And Golaith
    Disney
    Divergent
    Dreams
    Driving
    Easter
    Embracing Your Role
    Enjoying Life
    Europe
    Exercise
    Fall
    Family
    Farmer
    Fashion
    Fasting
    Fear
    Finding Your Place
    Fireworks
    Fishing
    Fixed By Force
    Fixer Upper
    Football
    Forgiveness
    Free Books
    Friendships
    Frozen
    George Clooney
    Getting Closer To God
    Getting Closer To God
    Gilmore Girls
    Goals
    God
    God\
    God Given Gifts
    God-given Gifts
    Golden Rule
    Good Friday
    Gospel
    Grace
    Graduation
    Grandma
    Growth
    Guys
    Hair
    Happiness
    Healing
    Health
    Heroes
    High School
    Holy Week
    Homecoming
    HOPE
    Hot Lunch
    Ides Of March
    Impact
    Inner Beauty
    Interviews
    Invisalines
    Isaiah 40
    It's Addicting
    Jason Bourne
    Jason Warne
    Jesus
    Journeys
    Joy
    Laughing
    Laundry
    Legos
    Lent
    Letting Go
    Life Lessons
    Light
    Listening
    Listening To God
    Love
    Luggage
    Magi
    Magic
    Magic Kingdom
    Mental Health
    Metro
    Miracles
    Moms
    Moon
    Moses
    Movies
    Music
    New Year
    New Year\
    Obedience
    Oliver Twist
    Pansies
    Patience
    Peace
    Perseverance
    Peter Walking On Water
    Pick Pockets
    Pink Bra
    Planning
    Playing By The Rules
    Playlist Fiction
    Popsicles
    Potential
    Praying
    Princess
    Princess Diaries
    Prize
    Promises
    Psalm 139
    Realigning Your Life
    Recipes
    Relationship
    Running
    Savor
    Seat Assignments
    Self Image
    Self-Image
    Self-image
    Sharing
    Shopping
    Snow Patrol
    Soccer
    Social Justice
    Social Media
    Sororities
    Spring
    Steroids
    Stories
    Straightening Out Your Life
    Strength
    Stretching To Hear God
    Subway
    Summer
    Summer Reading
    Superheroes
    Superman
    Swimsuits
    Tag
    Take Breaks
    Taking Time
    Teen Fiction
    Thankful
    Thessalonians
    The Thief Lord
    The Word
    Toads
    Tortoise
    Travel
    Trips
    True Reflection
    Trust
    Truth
    U2
    Unpacking
    Winter
    Wonder Woman
    Writing
    Yoga
    Zumba


Follow along with Laura:​

Photo used under Creative Commons from Narisa
  • Home
  • Books
  • Blogs
  • Speaking
  • Contact Laura