After missing church a week ago because of being stuck in the hospital, I was very ready to go to service yesterday, and it was a good one. I just checked, and it hasn’t been posted yet, but you should be able to find it here: http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch in the next day or two. Our current series is called “My Story”. As a writer, the title caught my eye right away, and the message caught my heart just as quickly.
Pastor Craig challenged us to start a new discipline, something to positively impact our daily lives, to help us live the story God wants us to tell. The first thing that came to mind is the dishes. Making a conscious decision to not go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink (or on the counter, or hiding in the oven!) I’ve been thinking about this habit lately, because we are about to embark on the home schooling journey once more, and organization is essential (in my opinion) for staying on task with school.
And the dishes have a big part to do with my being able to stay organized. See, when the dishes are done, I seem to be able to tackle other tasks, but when the dishes pile up, soon I am overwhelmed by dishes, laundry, clutter, dirty floors, dirty bathrooms and bedrooms, and I don’t know where to start and so I never do. Then the house is a mess, I’m stressed, and I start taking it out on the kids. Bad cycle.
But if I do the dishes every night, then when I wake up I can do a load of laundry, pick up the floor and sweep, wipe down the bathroom, and the house looks decent. I am less stressed. I play with the kids more. My love comes home to a happy baby momma and happy kids. Good cycle.
Yet, I was downplaying all of this and even telling myself that the dishes are not a spiritual enough goal for this discipline thing. Pastor Craig said we could only pick 1 new habit to start…so that quickly abolished my list of 15 “I will instantly become super woman” new disciplines. And along with abolishing that list of 15, it wiped out the “It’s day three, and I’ve already failed everything on the list” that was sure to happen, too.
I got to have a great conversation with my bestie yesterday, and we were talking about church and I told her about my dishes dilemma. And how silly it felt to say I’m going to do the dishes every single night before bed. I admitted how I felt like it wasn’t a spiritual enough discipline to start, especially since the inspiration was a message from church. Then, because she knows me so well, she reminded me that I know how many good things come from this one good habit, and that with such a long list of good things, the enemy wants me to think it’s not the right goal. Because let’s face it, if I put away today’s messes at bed time, and start tomorrow off on the right foot, then I am better equipped to receive grace, and give grace, and love like God wants me to. I won’t be weighed down by yesterday’s dirty dishes, and that helps me face today’s many messes.
So, my small new discipline is the dishes. I started last night. You know what happened this morning? I got up at 4:30 (like usual) and tackled another huge mess. And I’m writing, before the kids are awake. And it’s just really nice to not have a massive pile of dishes to work around when it comes to facing today.
What new discipline can you start in your life to help you tell the story God wants you to tell?
Regina Walker 