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Are you up for a gross story this week? I have one. I mean, it's not that gross, but I just wanted you to be prepared.

I was washing my face (yes, mom) for bed on Thursday night, and once again noticed that my bathroom drain was running slowly—very slowly. I'd been ignoring it for sometime, hoping it would go away. But for some odd reason, it hadn't yet. Ugh. "Maybe I'll fix it tomorrow." But I knew the tomorrow that had time for plumbing work would never come. I moaned again. This probably won't take long. They make these drains easy to clear, right?

So at 10:05 pm, I cleared out the cabinet, and went to get the tool that any capable handy woman must have—a straightened-out coat hanger. I took out the pop-up plug and noticed it was covered with black scum. Eww. I made a small hook at the end of my coat hanger and started digging. I wondered what would be at the bottom of this clog. A cotton squab? A penny? It always starts with one little thing that slips down the drain when it shouldn't. My curiosity was giving me the drive I needed to forge through the black slim. I pulled up some slimy hair. Ick. Did that come off my head? I was about to hit pay dirt, I could feel it. One more dip of the hanger, and I snagged the whole mess. It was grosser than I had expected—a big, black mass of hair, a candy wrapper, and the culprit that had started this whole mess, one of those clear thumb tacks. Now how in the world did that get there? (I only have four guesses!)

And the really odd thing about this whole incident was the lesson I saw in that tangled, nasty mess I pulled out of my drain.

I saw my messy house that starts with one pair of shoes I leave by the front door, or the one load of laundry I leave unfolded.

I saw the extra weight I've put on because I thought it wouldn't hurt to eat an extra helping 'just this once.'

I saw the compulsive liar who got that way because his mother pretended not to notice the first time he fibbed about sneaking a cookie.

I saw miserable marriages that started with one disagreement left unresolved, and that disagreement became an obstacle that collected every other little grievance until a big, black mess had formed.

James sums it up well, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." (James 1: 14-15)