Water splashes across the kitchen sink. My little two-year-old grabs the bristle brush and scrubs the stainless steel, while droplets spray his nimble hands and focused face. Joseph loves to help. So, when he sees Mommy washing dishes, processing peppers into puree, and spooning semi-sweet chocolate and pumpkin into a baked pie shell, he naturally wants to help too. Thus, the familiar scooting chair legs, as mentioned in a previous post, and a toddler taking his place as Mommy's righthand helper become a quick commonplace.
Then, he grabs the sprayer! "Ooohhh, M-o-m-m-y! What's that?" And, as if in answer to his query, water sprays everywhere. Joseph's smile widens and his eyes light up with that sense of discovery. And, before I can grasp the knob to turn off the water, Joseph dunks his head under the stream of water running from the faucet.
My son is soaked. Whenever he attempts to help wash the dishes or scrub the sink, it ends the same - dripping wet. But, I have found that messes are required in life.
In fact, if I didn't make messes I would never learn anything! In order to throw a pot on a wheel, you have to get your hands in the wet spinning clay. In order to make a yummy chocolate-bottom pumpkin pie, you have to make pie dough and puree pumpkin - both of which are quite messy! Less visible lessons are that way too. In order to cultivate the fruits of the spirit, we have to dunk ourselves into the messiness of life. Only by being refined can we harbor that hope of eternal life.
What about you, friend? What mess coats the walls or even ceiling of your life?
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