Tea And Toast

I love snow and living in Virginia's Southside means I don't see it very often. I flew to the windows this morning hoping for snow and, be still my heart, the sunlight was glittering off that pearly white stuff everywhere I looked! First thing I did was open all the curtains and pull up all the blinds in my house so I could see the brilliant winter beauty everywhere I went. Then I set about making me some hot tea and raisin toast. It didn't take long for me to notice that my clean kitchen wasn't really clean. My wood floor was covered with dust and specks of cracker crumbs and other debris of life. I am not a OCD kind of homemaker by any stretch of the imagination, but I could not stand looking at that floor and headed to the broom closet.

As I waited for my toast to pop up I noticed my counters weren't all that clean either, but littered with toast crumbs and smudges, so while I could see I wiped down all the counters. As I took my tea and toast and headed for my living room chair I took one last look through my kitchen windows. Ugh!!! Just filthy!  At that point I turned on my heel and walked out.

As I sat enjoying my tea and toast, looking out of the sliding glass door on the other side of the house, I was once again in love with the sparkling white stuff.

As I sipped and crunched I began to hear God speaking to me about my morning. "You know, my love is just like that," He said.  You come to me for something delicious that is going to bring you joy and pleasure and being near me thrills you with my Light and Beauty so much that before long you look around at your own soul and what seemed quite lovely before now looks a little forlorn and neglected."  

Yeah, I thought. "So not like me! I wanted to sweep the kitchen floor and wipe the counters. I was practically whistling while I worked like I was in a Disney movie!

"That's because you saw how beautiful your kitchen could be in my Light. Desire motivated you to go to the broom closet, but know that in The Kingdom I am also the broom and the dishcloth. All my children need to do is hold on to me and love The Light, I do all the work." The Most High said with a smile. 

I got it!  I didn't have to clean the kitchen to have the joy of the illuminated white shimmer of the snow in my day! The beauty of the shimmering snow pouring through my windows put a want to in my heart for my little space to glow as well.

Never has the difference between Grace and works been so clear to me. Had my mind been burdened with the evidence of my poor housekeeping, I could have forgotten my tea and toast, slugged through the chore of cleaning the kitchen focusing on the dirt and grime. The kitchen would have been clean, but I would have been distracted from the beauty shining in through the window and my tea and toast would have gotten stone cold. Instead, the beauty of the sun and snow pouring through my window inspired me to let that broom and dishcloth get rid of some of life's invisible kitchen debris without stealing my joy.  

Grace always makes time for toast and tea in the Son-light!

As for those windows?  That's another story. I share that one in "The Better To See You With My Dear"

http://thehungrydisciple.blogspot.com/2013/04/all-better-to-see-you-with-my-dear.html