~and it was only a bar of soap~

This is a blogpost about a bar of soap but not just any bar of soap mind you, but a really special one.  I bought it over two years ago when I was back home in Kansas as I was shopping for a few things before leaving in the early morning hours to return to my new home in Colorado.  I got it at one of the speciality stores over in Wichita and I was immediately attracted to its luscious peach flavored scent.  The ridges that the soap cutter made as it was sliced off of the huge block of soap it came from seemed to add to its appeal.  It was a stunning bar of soap and I didn't bat an eye at paying nearly $4 for a tiny slice of it.  The shopkeeper wrapped it in cellophane and tucked it into a small bag for me and off I went.

As soon as I made it home to Montrose that next day, I quickly tucked that sliver of soap heaven away in a box of special things that I keep and hardly ever use.  There it would stay, safe and sound for the next two years.  It survived the move over the big mountain in May of last year and even was moved once again when we bought our new house in January of this year.  Still it remained unused.

Last week as we were rearranging some of the things here at home in our bathroom, I came upon that treasured soap bar of mine.  There it was, still untouched and still safe and sound in the corner of the basket.  Alongside it were three other bars of soap, all special ones that I had picked up as I was shopping.  You know, I had to ask myself "Why?"  What was it about that little tiny sample of cleanliness that made it so special that I could never bring myself to use it? Why on earth would I pay money for something and then refuse to utilize it, all in the name of keeping it in its pristine condition?

I honestly don't know.

You know I could have written about a dozen other things that I have around here that somehow or another I'm afraid to use.  After all, what if something happens to it?  What if it gets all used up?  Then what am I going to do? My grandmother's pink quilt with water lilies upon it is finally used on the spare bed in our house.  For years after I received it, I kept it wrapped carefully in blue tissue paper and never allowed the sunlight to touch it.  No more on that.  Mike's Aunt Margaret gave us some beautiful linens that she no longer needed and so far, those things are tucked away in the bureau drawer.  I think tomorrow that in honor of Mother's Day and the dear sweet aunt who gave them to us, that I will lay out a few of those crisp white linens on the table.  It would make her happy.

Are you like me perhaps?  Do you have things in your possession that you cannot bear to use?  Are they so special that they must remain unused?  Please accept some advice from an old person, one who has been around the old block at least a time or two.  Nothing should be so special that you cannot use it.  Get it out of wherever it is being stored and put it to the good use that God intended for it to have.  If something should happen to it before you have the chance to pass it along to those that follow you, at least you got the enjoyment from it that was intended.  

Give it a try, will you?
You won't regret it if you do.
You might regret it if you do not.

It was only a bar of soap that was meant to cleanse our body, not take up space in a cabinet somewhere.  So tonight I used it and hey, if I use it all up, so what?  I know the way back to Wichita and I'm sure they haven't sold it all yet.