Where I See Mess, She Sees Love

My almost-twelve-year-old daughter, poetry in her soul just like her mama, was orbiting me with her dinner dishes as I cleaned up the kitchen. I asked her to put them in the dishwasher, saying totally unnecessarily and a little short tempered at the end of the day, "Can you see how I am trying to clean up the kitchen?" She paused mid-ballet-twirl and actually looked around the kitchen for a moment. The following observations, a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Emily Bronte, nearly brought me to tears at this girl-nearly-woman who once told me I smelled like "makeup and pretty mama." "This kitchen is pretty neat, Mom. The iced tea glass, the stack of old family cookbooks from Great Grandma, and the little plant show that you are a sweet kind of lady. All of the kid art shows that you love your family. The baseball cap on the counter shows that we have a fun dad who likes sports. All the pictures on the fridge and the big empty Pyrex bowls show that we have lots of friends, because those dishes were full of food and now they have to go back to the friends who made treats for us. There are lots of dishes in the sink, which means a big family lives here. The pots on the stove show that we ate a yummy dinner together, at home. The empty milk jug means there are growing kids. The high school picture of you and daddy shows that you have stayed together. The rubber bands and beads show that you do fun crafts with your kids. This is a lovely kitchen, Mom. There is lots of love in here." Oh my goodness, how did I miss what is so easy for her to see? Mess means life. Mess means we were together today, at least long enough to make some dirty dishes. I'm sorry I don't see the blessings through the mess often enough. But I am so deeply thankful that my kids see the love.