Is kitchen work ever done?
It seems I awaken in the morning — to drink coffee, yes — but to put the kitchen in order. [Funny how I put it to rights just before going to bed the night before only to find a sink full of overnight dishes, debris (that appears suspiciously like cereal, and new spots on the floor (hmmm… pineapple juice?).]
Each time I return to the kitchen, I find more messes, or a full dishwasher that requires emptying, and always work, work, work.
On weekends, I make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For football games, I usually fill the counter tops with finger foods of all sorts, cutting and cooking for hours,then serving it, and finally putting the remnants away.
On occasion, I can get the kitchen just perfect–which is apparently a perfect invitation to my children to come and create a snack of some kind. (I tell them to never commit a crime, because they always leave evidence behind.) Even the cat tends to spread her food all over the floor!
While I love serving my family and delight in delicious foods, I must say the constant attention a kitchen needs is overwhelming.
I try listening to various radio programs or, my favorite, Adventures in Odyssey shows, to make the time pass–but that’s the problem. Hours and hours pass–and I feel no real progress is made (unless you count the rising numbers on the scale).
And yet, it is a call of duty.
I wish, sometimes, that my call of duty was the mowing of the yard — something that lasts for a week — or some other task that wasn’t completely undone within moments of its accomplishment. Perhaps this blog can be a part of that?
For years, other than the lesson plans and tests I write for school, my writing has been limited to an annual Christmas letter I send to various friends and family. I don’t know if people are just kind, but I usually get great feedback and even grilled with “when are you writing your letter?” when I am late (which is too often–because, after all, the kitchen is calling).
Now that I’ve entered the master’s program in Educational Technology (all online through the University of Florida), I am writing all the time, communicating with my classmates through various forums. And perhaps they are more than kind, but they have told me I should write a blog–and that they would read it if I did.
So Lalla, and the rest of EDG6931, this blog’s for you!
Sara
One decade later
February 6, 2022 — Today I read this post as part of Sara’s Shorts, pocket-sized stories for the soul, a new podcast in which I’m staying current as I write new blog posts each week but also reaching back to breathe new life into old posts. What a surprise to see this first post dated January 22, 2012 — I wrote this just over a decade earlier!
The children who once corrupted my clean kitchen now clean their own messes — or not — in their own spaces. My husband makes enough messes for all of them — and I’m not completely innocent either. My kitchen still requires a lot of my time. I still enjoy Adventures in Odyssey as I spend time working in it.
The difference is that I now share cooking with my husband, who has retired, while I go to my 8 to 5 job in marketing and communications. (He still awakens in the night to sleep-eat; and I still awaken in the morning to clean the kitchen again.
I no longer write lesson plans or tests or an annual Christmas newsletter — but I’ve got more than 500 blog posts written to date!
Though the number of faithful fans I have does not justify the amount of time I spend writing — and now podcasting — I am thankful I have captured these years and God’s faithfulness in words. I pray they will touch the lives who interact with these thoughts.
Certainly, it is lovely to have a host of written words that remain no matter that the routine of kitchen duties are constantly repeated because they are are quickly undone. Though cleanup may be a call of duty, using my God-given talents and abilities are a call of duty too.
I’m answering His call. I hope you are too!
All Things Work Together 