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Friday, November 5, 2010

Planned to the Plate

I posted pictures of my old kitchen a few days ago.  It was so easy to be presentable with those perfectly white planned to the plate cabinets.  When I designed it I made sure everything had a place and there was not much to distract anyone from it's beauty.  I remember when we first completed the kitchen I would come down the stairs just to stare at it.  The white cabinets and nearly naked counter tops gave me such peace.  They were little pats on the back that I was doing something right!

Now I find reminders of my inability to find a place for everything- even egg carton creatures!

 We had another home school family over for the day.  It's great when you meet people who you can just hang out with.  While the kids (all 7 of them) played (very well) the moms chit chatted about home school, church, cooking, home decor... I apologized continually for my lack of "perfect nestiness" and my getting sorted while she was over.  I was a little distracted because I felt that I should have had the chocolate-banana-coconut-walnut (exhale) bread baked before they arrived.  I was initially thrown because I wanted to have the fruit washed and set out in my white matching trays.  I was a bit off put because I wanted the croissant sandwich station to be sorted and plated before the kidlets were hungry.  So I apologized, heart sinking and disappointments lingering.

I asked my friend why I couldn't be like The Nester or the Pioneer Woman or  any other perfectly held together bloggy mom on the planet.  Why do I have stacks of stuff, piles of papers, and baskets of crafts laying about.  Why can't things find a home in my home.  I felt like a two year old throwing a tantrum...Why? NO FAIR! HMMM!

So the grace fell out of her mouth and drifted on to my heart.  She reminded me of the baby that still cried for me, the other 3 that can't be left out of sight and the banana bread that shared a little of itself through my oven vent.  She gave me permission to live in a little chaos- for now.  I needed that. Thank you Ms. S!

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Oh goodness! You made me cry just now. We enjoyed our visit so very much and were so appreciative of your generous spirit...the tea, the banana bread, the pickles, the beads (that the girls have played with for hours on end). When I am feeling so imperfect that I want to throw a tantrum, I try to remember what someone once told me "You are a child of God". It's amazing what those six little words can do to calm my heart. So, my dear Myrtle, you too are a child of God and He loves you very much. Thank you for being my friend.
Shannon

Unknown said...

I'm sorry you feel this way!

Jesus always put children first and I think if it had been Myrtle and Martha in the Bible, He'd have chastised Martha for being the domestic goddess instead of meeting the needs of the children just as much has He did for not sitting at His feet.