Kitchen First

The other day my family and I were cleaning the house. It was a Saturday and I really don't like spending my Saturdays cleaning....who does, right? But because the whole family was getting involved I didn't want to spoil this unusual happening from continuing on, so I just went with the flow and kept cleaning too. I vacuumed, cleaned the basement bathroom (yuck!), worked on laundry, helped my daughter clean and reorganize her room, all the while the kitchen sat there left untouched.

Although I was cleaning other rooms and kept significantly busy around the house, my mind would often go to the kitchen: I wonder if anyone has thought to clean the kitchen for me, that would be so nice. Then I would try to reason with myself: look, you are making a lot of progress around here, you don't have to go clean the kitchen, just leave it. So that's what I did. I left the kitchen dirty!

Later that night when I was trying to enjoy my clean house, I sensed somewhat of an unrestful, nagging feeling tugging at me from inside. There was that voice again: hey the kitchen is still a mess, you should probably go in and clean it up. And then I'd answer myself back: no, I've done enough today. I'll leave it for tomorrow. It was the perfect response from a procrastinator.

So I did leave the kitchen for Sunday. The dirty plates greeted me in the morning with all the crusty yummies left on their bottoms. The glasses with unreachable dried milk rings also chimed in with a sarcastic "good morning, aren't you glad you waited for today to clean us?" And the worst are the strategically placed sticky spots on the floor that make me absolutey irate when I discover I've stepped on one. Oh the joys of procrastination, right? You would think that all of this would disgust me so much that upon waking up on Sunday morning, I would rush into the kitchen ready to wash the dishes and mop the floor. Right? Wrong! It wasn't until Sunday (the Sabbath, the day of rest, I should have been resting) afternoon that I caved in and finally did the dirty deed.

So here is my question. Why does the kitchen have to be cleaned to make me feel like I've actually accomplished "cleaning the house"? My whole house could be in disarray, but if I have those dishes DONE and if I can walk on the floor WITHOUT sticking to it, I feel so much happier, at peace and have a sense of accomplishment that I did not have before when the kitchen was a disaster.

This is my answer. You know how people say the kitchen is the heart of the home. It is where everyone gathers (whether you want them there or not), it is where the food is stored and prepared for us to receive nourishment for our bodies. It is probably the only room that gets cleaned daily (or almost daily in my house). It is the center of our home and of our lives. We always seem to hang out in the kitchen, especially if mom just went to the store!

So let's play a little comparison game. God and Kitchens. What if you leave God until last, don't spend any time with Him, tell Him you will get to Him later, until finally circumstances in your life can no longer make God wait. There is something magical about having a clean kitchen and there is something supernatural about making your relationship with God the number one priority. When you do either of the two, life just seems to be more peaceful, more in order. It doesn't even matter if the rest of the house is a mess or the rest of your life is a mess; if you put God first, make him your friend rather than a stranger, you WILL have peace no matter what disastrous storms may come and go.