The Dirty Dishes Prayer

Sigh.  There they are again.  The dishes.

Somehow, if I don't do the dishes for a few days, they pile up.

Do you believe that?

And if I have run out of paper plates, as I sometimes do, the dirty dishes are piled everywhere!

In the sink, on the counters surrounding the sink, on the stove, all over the countertop and the kitchen table.

Once we've run out of usable space in the kitchen, I know it's time.


Now, I am not usually a person who procrastinates.


But sometimes we are BUSY doing other things.  More enjoyable things.  Traveling, having a picnic, going to an amusement park, or enjoying the warm weather (because we know our good weather is limited).

This week, my lupus kicked up and drained my battery down to almost nil.  That means I did even less in the housekeeping department than usual. 

And so, this afternoon, when my energy returned, I did it. 

I knuckled down and spent an hour and a half cleaning up the kitchen.

While battling the dirty dishes, wishing I was doing anything else, I decided to think about how I could be thankful for them.

Yes, Thankful!

(Do you believe it?)


I just read a blog that included details of life in another country - how a 12-year-old girl was taken away from her mother and forced into sex trafficking.

OK - And I am worried about washing dirty dishes?  Although I was dealing with a literal mountain of dirty dishes, this was nothing compared to what that mother had to endure.  And think of that poor girl!

I am thankful for the relative peace and safety we live in.

 And I prayed for that mother and daughter.


We have all the food we need, and snacks whenever we want them.  I am not a gourmet cook, nor do my children have fancy palettes - but we are blessed.  Beyond what many people in the world experience - starvation, dehydration, digging through trash for a meal...


Thank you, God, for your daily provision for our family.  I pray that you would provide food for those in need.  Please help us remember to give food to the needy out of our abundance.  And help me to remember these dirty pots and pans are reminders of how you provide all our needs.


And the DISHES!!!  As much of a pain as it is to wash them sometimes, we have them.  We have enough plates, bowls, cups, and silverware to serve twenty or more people!!  Even though it appears that we have fed that many people, due to the large dirty piles of dishes, I know that these were used only to serve our family. 


I watched a show on Netflix last night that featured people who live in the desert.  In one particular village, the yearly drought drains the water from their lake, their main source of water.  The drought causes a peculiar phenomenon - all the fish are condensed into the shrunken lake.  So the entire village - what looks like thousands of people - comes for a special event.  A man or boy from each family comes with a fish basket in hopes that they will capture enough fish to feed their family one last time.  Once the fisherman brings back his catch, whatever he brings, supplies the whole family with one last meal.  They set their cooked fish on crude wooden tables everyone to eat from.  How long they would have to wait for food after this event, I don't know. 


I have no right to complain about the amount of dishes in my kitchen.  I have every right to be thankful.


To be thankful that I have things I don't even need.  In such an excess that it piles up around me and covers all visible surfaces.  Dear Lord, please help me to remember how blessed I am.  How much you have blessed our family.  I pray you will be with those in need, that you will meet their needs, and that they will have the opportunity to know YOU, Lord!  And help me to remember to give to those in need.  We have so much!

Jehovah Jireh, God Provides.


I pray these things as I wash,

And then...the dishes don't seem so bad anymore.