Grace to Load the Dishwasher. Again.

I was at a bridal shower recently. I don’t have any idea what she got because I was playing with my toddler in the other room while the bride opened her gifts. A friend joined me. Her oldest daughter is getting married soon so her days of hiding out in the toddler room could be long gone. But she sat down to relieve me of my shape sorting duties so I could bounce my 6 month old.

As we visited she said something about how we always think we need grace for the “big” things but we really need just as much grace to load the dishwasher, again.

“Here, mommy!” begins the unloading the dishwasher chant. Miriam hands me a glass that’s a bit too heavy for her and likely to come smashing down if I don’t take it quickly enough.

“Thank you sweetheart. How about you put the silverware in the drawer?” Two little fistfuls of silverware clunk in the drawer.

Next she goes for a bowl which, from the angle she’s at, definitely won’t come out. “Stuck! Stuck!” She pulls harder. “Oh, if you stand over here it’s easier, see?” I quickly pull it out before another one of the prongs in our dishwasher snaps off.

More glasses. More silverware. More bowls. A sigh of relief.

Miriam stays behind, rolls the empty shelves in, closes the door, and pushes the start button. I cancel the wash. “Remember, we can’t push the button until Mommy puts the soap in.” I scan the counter filled with dirty dishes and swarms of fruit flies.

I need grace to load the dishwasher.

I need grace to not just plop down on the couch. I need grace to be patient. I need grace to be joyful. I need grace to bypass the pity party.

My prayer is simple, “Help me load the dishwasher.” It’s short because that’s all I have time to say. But I really mean that I can’t do it in a way that makes God look beautiful to my children unless He helps me. He wants me to realize I’m dependent like that.

This time all the dirty dishes fit. I fill the little container with soap. Miriam gets to push the button. And in less than 24 hours I will need grace to load the dishwasher. Again.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Melissa McDonald
Author
www.thecrossandthekitchensink.com

Weeds

A couple weekends ago I pulled some weeds in my backyard. I've only been a homeowner for two years, and we usually have a gardener come to do our yard work. But our weeds had gotten so out of control, and the gardener was just weed-whacking them down to the roots, not pulling them all the way out. I always hear that you have to pull weeds out by the roots or else they'll just keep coming back, so I took it upon myself to pull my own weeds.

It looked like a daunting task. They were covering about 40% of the yard. But when I actually got down on my hands and knees to take care of them, I found that they were spreading weeds. Each weed was spreading out to cover about 3 square feet, but I could actually just sweep around and collect all those sprawling tendrils that were all connected to one root, pull them out by the root, and in this way I was able to clear the lawn pretty quickly. I noticed that when I pulled them out, I would feel the roots start to give, and then the whole plant would come up out of the ground whole. It was actually really satisfying! And then underneath those weeds, all my grass was still there, growing and perfect.

It made me think about "weeds" in our spiritual lives. We might think it's too hard to pull them out, but when we really address it, there might be just one root sin we can pull out and then a bunch of others will go with it. Underneath we'll find our healthy soul, still green and growing, just waiting to be exposed to the sun again after the weeds are cleared away. Is there gardening that you can do in your own spiritual life today?

Jill Addison
Online Video Producer
www.JillAddison.com