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Everything but the Kitchen Sink


Sometimes this is what service looks like. It’s a sink full of messy pots, pans, and dishes just waiting to be washed and put away.

You may see this pile and immediately start sweating or you may also think nothing of it (like me; unfortunately/fortunately I have a super human ability to not notice some messes).


But regardless of what side of the fence you are on, we can all agree that a sink full of messy dishes doesn’t just get cleaned automatically. It’s a part of the process.


Use a clean dish, dirty the dish, wash dish, put away dish. Repeat.

Today, I was baking for a neighbor and friends because I wanted to serve them with bread and cinnamon rolls before we move away. As I finished up, I cleaned my work area and piled the gummy and yeasty pots and pans and forks into the sink and sighed.


It wasn’t a sigh of happy contentment either.


But as soon as the hot air passed through my lips I was struck immediately by what I just did.


You see, I don’t exactly *like* doing the dishes. I have it tasked to my children and husband for a reason. But I liked to serve food to people in need or to show love.

Messy dishes was a part of this process whether I liked it or not. Was I truly loving to serve with every fiber of my being, and in every step, including doing the thing I didn’t like, which was created as a result of that process?


Oh, how quick I am to proclaim Christ and then grumble out of the same mouth!


Are we so quick to serve yet grumble in our hearts later? The closer we draw into the Lord the more we see His ways: So pure, so good, so full of grace and mercy.

Does He grant us blessings yet to turn to His angels and tell them about how much of a terror our kids are? How messy our houses are? How annoying our laugh is? How frustrating it is to clean the dishes after baking bread for me?


“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”‭‭ James‬ ‭4:8‬

It’s embarrassingly true. Lord, forgive my double-mindedness and turn my heart toward Your ways and Your heart alone. Help me serve, love, and have joy in the whole process - mess and all.


Help me to serve my family, church, neighbors, and strangers without grumbling about the process knowing that a serving heart in the process is what also brings You great glory.

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