I'm a when-it's-late-leave-the-dirty-dishes-till-the-morning kind of guy. Göran, on the other hand, is a do-the-dishes-now-and-wake-up-to-a-clean-house kind of guy. So we've had our occasional disagreements about when to do the dishes.
We had some friends over a couple of weeks ago, and Göran is also a pull-out-all-the-stops kind of host. So after our friends left, as usual, we had lots of dishes. And of course it was late. And did I mention, we don't have a dishwasher? (Or I should say, the dishwasher is Us.) I was tired, so I went upstairs, brushed my teeth, and retired to the bedroom for the evening. Before going upstairs, I had noticed that Göran had that "let's clean up now" look in his eyes, but I deliberately ignored it. I could tell he was a bit annoyed, but I thought, "Sometimes we could do this my way. And I don't feel like doing dishes till the morning!"
So I'm on my knees praying, and I can hear the water running in the sink downstairs, and I can hear the dishes starting to clatter. And I'm trying to focus on my prayers. And the Spirit very distinctly said to me: "John, get up off your knees and go downstairs and help your partner do the dishes!" And that's what I did.
Sometimes the best way to pray is standing.
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6 comments:
I've had that exact same experience, except that I'm more likely to just go to bed feeling guilty and angry. :)
“ And the Spirit very distinctly said to me: "John, get up off your knees and go downstairs and help your partner do the dishes!"”
And all this time I thought that voice was the voice of self-preservation ;-).
My husband is the pull-out-all-the-stops kind of host too. I’m more of a sure-drop-on-by-anytime-and-I-may-order-you-pizza sort of guy. Only together are we reasonable.
Mr. Fob - Did you have nightmares of dirty dishes chasing you down the hall?
Scot - That's funny. In describing yourself, you pretty much described me. My philosophy is, I'd rather enjoy friends' company in a way that doesn't feel like an ordeal, so it can happen more often. Göran is slowly coming over to my way of thinking.
In 2000, we had a "Millennium" New Year's Eve Party, and I swear he used every single frickin' dish and piece of silverware in the whole house. One of our guests graciously offered to stay overnight and help us wash dishes. Yup, stay overnight. The three of us finished washing dishes some time around 3:30 a.m.
I love you. I love your blog. I love EVERYTHING you have to say. I'm so glad you're present in this blog world. Thanks for all you do.
maybe its just me but I didn't get when you said
"sometimes the best way to pray is standing "
...?
Thanks, Elbow. I love you too. I really do. You are in my thoughts and prayers every day.
Cadence - For me, prayer is as simple as directing my thoughts to my Heavenly Father, and can be done anywhere while I'm doing anything. In this particular situation, washing dishes and making sure there was peace between me and my partner was a much better way to pray, and allowed me to have more access to the Spirit, than selfishly going off to my room and piously praying on my knees while he was downstairs feeling bitter because I'd left him to fend for himself.
Of course I said my prayers (on my knees) again later before going to sleep. The second time around worked better than the first time!
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