When I walked into the kitchen this morning, I saw them – dirty dishes from the day before laid out on the counter like people on a beach looking for a suntan. They were happy there.
The dishes did not care that I had not washed them, and neither did anyone else, even though I typically cannot stand dirty dishes loitering around! Some people say couples should not to go to bed angry. I tend to feel that way about dirty dishes. Even if it means staying up a little later, don’t go to bed with dishes in the sink—that’s what I tell myself.
No one else tells me this.
No one has ever said to me, “Lisa, don’t go to bed with dishes in the sink.”
So where did this come from?
Somewhere along the way, I formed an idea of what a kitchen should look like—and then turned it into an expectation: a good kitchen is a clean kitchen. Even though no one ever told me that.
The truth is, I might miss out on a conversation someone has been waiting to have with me, or hold up something fun someone wants to do, all because I’m busy trying to live up to an expectation I created.
What expectation have you created along the way, one no one is asking of you?
- Is it a household chore? How your lawn looks? Your appearance? What you will serve at the next family holiday meal?
- What are you busy doing that no one expects you to do? And what might you miss out on in the meantime?
The writer of Psalm 127 points out, “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest [doing the dishes, perhaps], eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.”
There is always more to do!
And often, there is less that actually needs to be done.
Photo by Mariam Antadze: https://www.pexels.com/photo/stack-of-dirty-coffee-cups-on-a-dirty-table-7351917/
Lisa Lewton 
time to slow down
LikeLike