Washing Dishes

"Attitude is a choice."

I love today's girlfriend devotional.

I'm one of those that sees the glass as half full--although I must admit there are times when I don't think that.

You always have a choice. Do you see the cloud or the silver lining? Do you see God's promises of healing, prosperity, provision, salvation, comfort -- Or are you too consumed by your despair and life situation. There is always a choice.

I noticed a difference in my attitude when I started to give thanks at the end of each day for the things that happened during the day. Even if it was just a good hair day (which for a person with naturally curly hair and obsessive compulsive tendencies doesn't come very often). It's amazing once you start listing them how many of them there are.

To connect with this month's theme, handling stress, I wanted to mention the stress, not only of seeing the positive in the negative (the opportunities we often miss), but also the stress of spending more time with our children.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to tackle my housecleaning, which I had let go in the stress of working. But, as my focus turned to possibly hosting a women's Bible study in our home and as I anticipated baby Brent crawling on our floors and as I decided to let my OCD nature take over to get the house in some semblance of order...I decided to start with tackling the dishes.

I HATE washing dishes. Now, we do have a dishwasher, but there are always pots and pans and several other things (baby bottles) that need to be washed everyday. So, I recruited my 12-year-old son to dry. We spend time watching movies together - a lot of movies. But because we're focused on what's on the screen, we don't really talk about anything - though I think just spending time with him doing something is good.

Anyway, I have discovered that now I love washing dishes and I notice when I'm washing them alone, how lonely I am without my son there. It is a chance for us to talk and get to know one another. To connect. The other day I was surprised when my son came running into my office flabbergasted at a news report he'd just heard about people losing their jobs. It made me realize how important it was to connect with him. That he could feel comfortable coming to me with anything -- even his anger that people were losing their jobs.

I no longer see washing dishes as a burden. Not only do I have empty sinks, empty/tidy counter tops and stove tops. I also have a connection with my son that I didn't have before.