November 17th

Today's thank-you is a hard one for my Type-A, neat-freak self. My muscles tense as I write this because it's just so hard to be thankful for a messy kitchen. Thankful for dishes piled up in the sink and crumbs all over the counter and floor and a trash bag waiting to be taken out. Yes, I say thank you...because even though I cringe whenever I glance around and see it all, I force myself to look past the mess and see, really see, what it means. It means a happy kitchen: a place where friends come and join us for the breaking of bread. It means a busy kitchen: a place where we pause our lives-full with school and sororities and sports and time with friends and so many of the other things that bring us so much joy-in order to eat. Most of all it means a fed kitchen: a place filled to the brim with food, a gift we are so guilty of taking for granted.

So yes, I'm thankful for the mess. Because the mess is really just fullness and joy and nourishment for the body and the soul (or at least that's what I'm telling myself until it all gets cleaned up).