Luke 12:6-7
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet no one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
I mention in a previous post that our dishwasher begins to act erratically, threatening to quit at any moment. My husband, Danny, throws the breaker switch and voila! She's back up and running.
As we are traveling home from our glorious week in the mountains, I receive a text from my son, Daniel, who is temporarily living with us. Mom, the dishwasher is messing up again.
"Uh-oh," I say aloud, "and I'll bet it's full of dirty dishes."
"The dishwasher isn't working?" Danny asks in alarm. "Again?"
"Again," I say gloomily.
"Well, let's not worry about it until we get home," he says. "You never know; trying the breaker may do the trick one more time."
But it doesn't.
And my premonition of a dishwasher loaded to the gills turns out to be true. So now, on top of unloading the car and unpacking, I have the added chore of washing all the soiled glasses and plates and utensils. Bummer!
Or so I imagine.
About half-way through the suds and the scrubbing, the rinsing and drying, I have an epiphany. In having to wash everything by hand, I'm paying attention, focusing on the details of every surface of the objects I'm cleaning. Noticing things about our dishes and flatware that I never had before, and coming to appreciate them in a whole new way.
And I'm reminded of how God is in every detail, no matter how minute, of our lives. He, who numbers the hairs on our head, will never forget nor forsake us. Just as I hold a glass up to the light to make sure I've cleansed every smudge and smear, so God, through the salvation offered us by Christ Jesus, has removed every stain of sin as far as east is from west.
"Danny," I say with a smile, "Don't buy a new dishwasher."
"You must be joking!"
"No, I'm serious," I assure him. "Just buy me a drying rack and I'll be happy."
So he does.
And I'm not just happy.
I'm blessed!
~
Are you seeing God in the details of your life?
Not many people would see washing dishes by hand a blessing but you just made it so with your post. But then any time the Lord teaches a lesson about Him and uses the ordinary is a blessing. Loved this post.
ReplyDeleteYes, Betty, the ordinary always becomes extraordinary when God reveals a lesson to us in it. Always!
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, during a re-vision of my post, Tara story, I lost your comment. Wanted to thank you for taking time to read my post.
DeleteSure thing, Betty! I always love visiting with you.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, I love how you find such deep meaning in the common, ordinary life-tasks. We generally find God in the ordinary times life (although times like that can be easily missed). Even though, it would be so easy to miss, I've seen God at work in answering my cry for help: providing a friend to help me with a church service at a local nursing home (later this month), my church will be having a service on Christmas Day, and I'm seeing God provide blessings to a dear friend who is going through a challenging time. Now for eyes to see God moving even more!
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings!
I'm so glad you are seeing God moving so powerfully in your daily life, Kim. What a blessing that is! May we all have eyes to see and ears to hear.
DeleteLove and blessings!
I am happy for you. I went through this not long ago when our dishwasher broke, and it was over a month before we replaced it...and I did enjoy washing the dishes...but with a family of four most of the time, I do appreciate having a DW again. But I DO understand what you are saying. I spent more time looking out my kitchen windows while I washed the dishes by hand, and saw so many beautiful things that God had placed there. Yes, it is good to change our routine for a spell and appreciate the blessings surrounding us. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe are cleaning up after four, too, but so far, so good. I really used to hate unloading a full washer; now I just wash as I go and it's less of a hassle to put the dishes away.
DeleteI do wish I had a window to look out of when I'm at the sink, and am so glad you do, Pamela. It makes things ever so much more pleasant!
Love and blessings!
Okay, Martha, I must admit that I love my dishwasher. But... then my sister-in-law lived with me for five months. She's from Japan and she washes dishes by hand. The funny thing is, I found myself washing more dishes by hand while she was living with us. It was actually "therapeutic". Now that she's bought her own home and no longer lives we us, I still wash a lot more dishes by hand. So, I could relate to this post.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we get used to having a dishwasher and can't imagine NOT having one, but it really isn't much more of a hassle to do them by hand. We're at a point where we are saving intently for retirement (my husband's), so every penny saved - well, you know the saying!
DeleteLove and blessings!
I would love to share an experience with you that is parallel to yours -- maybe someday when we talk :) Thank you for the encouraging post.
ReplyDeleteSure thing, Carol. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLove and blessings!
Hi Martha! I think you tapped into the spirituality of housework, wow! I wonder if I'd ever say to my husband to scrap the dishwasher? Honestly, probably not. But I can relate to the attention it takes to wash by hand. We are heading into seven weeks without our kitchen, and still doing dishes by hand in the bathroom sink.
ReplyDeleteIf your chore unites you with the Lord, what more could you ask? You have been gifted, and have accepted that gift. So wonderful!
Ceil
Wow, Ceil, seven weeks of true inconvenience is a LONG time! I admire you for being able to put up with it; hope the new and improved kitchen will be the one you always dreamed of having. :)
DeleteAnd yes, I think we can find God everywhere, even in our chores; sometimes it's when I'm washing up, sweeping, dusting, etc., that I have my best ideas for writing.
Love and blessings!
wonderful food for thought. You make me smile with your little lessons. All good faith shaping thoughts. A few weeks ago our refrig should us an error message then once we unplugged and replugged it worked fine. BUT it happened again too so we ended up calling a repair man. our first world problems, right?
ReplyDeleteFirst world problems - Lol! Exactly, Jean. We should stop and count our overabundance of blessings. (I have a feeling you already do that, and frequently!)
DeleteSo glad you like the lessons I share here. God is so good!
Love and blessings!
Funny that you learned this from a broken dishwasher. My dishwasher caught on fire a few weeks ago! So I was also washing dishes by hand for a few days, feeling blessed not only for the details of the dishes I love, but also because I was home and stopped the fire before it went beyond the dishwasher! Moral of this story--while you are enjoying the details of your life, don't leave your appliances running when you are not home!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, Galen, that certainly could have been a catastrophe! Glad you were home when it happened, too. I had heard someone a long time warning about not running your appliances, especially your dryer, if you're not going to be home. In your case, I'd say that's very sage advice.
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Love and blessings!