In mid-March our washing machine stopped working properly. With two loads of clothes that needed immediate attention, I placed them in the car and drove to a nearby laundromat, taking with me a newspaper and book to occupy the time. “We just bought this washing machine a few years ago,” I grumbled to myself. “They just don’t make anything like they used to!”

As I sat in the laundromat, a man entered with three loads of clothes. But, unlike me, he was whistling a happy tune. He struck up a conversation with me, mostly wanting to talk about the rough winter and the snowstorm predicted to come three days later. He even offered me a beer. I politely declined.

Because he shared so much with me that morning, I learned a lot about him—his current joys and challenges, his pleasures and heartaches. But I learned more about myself. Among my lessons that day, I was reminded that life does not consist of the things that I possess—no matter how necessary they are. Life is about relationships: the vertical one that I must daily have with Christ, and the horizontal ones that I have with others. Jesus stated it perfectly when He said we are to love both God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-39).