Hindsight is 20/20

Since I was very young, I remember my mom advising me of the importance of always wearing clean underwear, because you never know when you’re going to be in a car crash or some other accident which would necessitate a medical professional viewing you in your skivvies.  I usually viewed that piece of advice rather cynically, concluding that if I were in such a life-altering event, the state of my undergarments would be the least of my worries.  Yet now I am seeing the wisdom of the principle my mother was trying to convey, if not the specific application (thanks anyway, mom!).  That is to say, be prepared, because everything can change in a moment. 

There are profound spiritual lessons to be gleaned from such a realization, but as my eternal salvation is secure, I am contemplating much more mundane aspects of this truth.  What brought this adage to mind today was the reminder of how many incomplete projects I have at my house.  My mother-in-law called today and asked if I would like her to hang the curtains I had purchased several weeks prior to my hospitalization.  I had completely forgotten about them.  I had bought two sets of drapes, with the intent of choosing my favorite one and returning the other.  Yet I had never made a decision, and as a result, there are two opened packages of wrinkled drapes lying somewhere in the house (I don’t even recall where!).  These drapes only represent the tip of the procrastination iceberg.  There are clothes that need to be ironed or mended, pictures to be hung, and countless other household projects languishing in domestic limbo.  I had reasonably assumed I had many months to tie up these loose ends before the girls were born and my spare time would vanish along with uninterrupted sleep. 

Of course, these unfinished tasks pale in importance to my current project of “cooking” these babies until they are done.  Shortly after I went into labor, Jim and I observed how insignificant everything else became when compared with the crisis we were facing.  However, now that the immediate danger has faded, I am left with the realization that sometimes, it makes sense to hang the drapes, iron the shirts, and yes…wear clean underwear.