Ya know, you can gain a lot of information for your blog when you talk to your friends! When you begin sharing with a friend, chatting away it is amazing the things that come up, kind of like one of those AHA moments where you know there is a post in there somewhere.I am blessed to have those kinds of conversations, and they always seem to wind up around our love of Christ.
Today as we were chatting, she was doing laundry just as I was, and the dishes were there to be done also. My friend says that she likes doing the dishes most of all, and laundry comes a long last. For me those toilets come pretty much last on my list.
So as I began to share with her how I too love to do the dishes she giggled, because she knew there was a blog coming about it soon.
I do love the feel of the warm water running over my hands. That big sink full of dishes can look almost dangerous at times, almost like it will tumble over. But as I clean each one, something happens. There are less of them stacked up and I have a clean stack just on the other side.
See, when I am mad, I can dig in there and scrub those dishes with a furry. When I am sad I can wash each one slowly, with tears streaming down my face, but the amazing thing is it is a wonderful prayer time for me. Really it is. Whatever I am feeling, as I wash away, the Lord washes over me. As that clean water runs over those dishes, I too feel His love and forgiveness washing over me. Just washing away that bitterness that has creeped in, that anger I have held on to for the last week, those questions I seem to have no answers for, and the sadness that takes over my soul, just washes away down that drain with all the other dirt and scum that piles up when those dishes go unattended to.
I am one to do my dishes daily, most of the time I use our dishwasher, but like I share with you today, I love the feel of the water. And I love to do them in the quiet of the day. But that reminds me to cleanse my heart daily too, washing away everything that doesn't need to be there. Sometimes you have to get out that scrub brush and put muscle into that caked up dirt, but others are easier to wash.
Its amazing the things we can do to bring calm to our spirit, to spend a few minutes with the Lord, and to wash ourselves clean of the grim that gets on us. As that dishwasher can leave a film on your dishes, doing them by hand doesn't. You get finished, and you glance over, you can see a sparkle that wasn't there before. You walk away smiling, and feeling as though you accomplished something not just to check off your list, but to add to your heart.
