So tell me, when does a teenager ever actually WANT to do the dishes? Yeah, okay. At that point your parents probably wonder what kind of expensive car you want to beg them for. That's not the kind of want I'm getting at. I mean, who truly wants to stick their hands in dirty water, knowing that other people ate off of those dishes? And the floaters? Don't even get me started!
For the longest time, I absolutely loathed doing the dishes. I feel like they scared me more than they did anything else. Did I tell you that, like, I HATE floaters.
So, that forever dreaded moment would come. Mom would come into the bedroom, admire whatever project I was attempting to do at the time, and she would ask me so politely. "Grace, honey, can you do the dishes for me? You can leave the big pots for me." And do you know what I would say? I wouldn't say anything. I would just whine, a lot. One time I even cried. I really hated it when I had to the dishes.
I was around the age of seven, we had just moved to France, and it was a rainy day. I mean, it only rains like it rained that day in two places on earth. London and Massy - Palaiseau (look it up). So, it was pouring. I had been home from school for at least an hour. Mom decided she wanted some comfort food. So, of course, she breaks out a huge pot and the ingredients to make Chili. Well, later in the evening, she asked me to wash the big pot and the other dishes that had piled up. Well, I about cried.
Then another time, we were at our beach camp. At this point I was maybe 14 years old. It was almost dark outside. You could see the sunset from the window above the kitchen sink. I actually had a tolerance for dishes at this point. I think realizing that if you wash them well enough they'll be clean, helped me out a tad. And I washed a sink full of dishes while watching the sunset.
Today, April 27, 2017 it was raining again. I washed the dishes again. But a little differently. I broke out my earbuds and 5th Gen iPod and listened to Christian Hits on a radio app called Jango. I had an absolute blast. I didn't realize where my hands were or what they were touching. Then, I think one of my all time favorite songs by Hillsong came on. And the hands slowed. The water dripped off. And I stood for a minute in absolute awe, the lyrics I was listening to were earth shattering.
"God of creation
There at the start
Before the beginning of time
With no point of reference
You spoke to the dark
And fleshed out the wonder of light
And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapor of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship so will I"
~ I can praise Jesus for the sudsy, dirty dishes.
"I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises so will I"
~ I can praise Jesus for the cold, rainy days. And the crocuses that bloom afterwards.
"I can see Your heart
Eight billion different ways
Every precious one
A child You died to save
If You gave Your life to love them so will I
Like You would again a hundred billion times
But what measure could amount to Your desire
You’re the One who never leaves the one behind"
~Thank you Jesus for the life you have called me to. Help me to give my life to love them like you did.
#Africa'sChild