Today I am thankful for dirty dishes.

When I was a little I washed many dirty dishes. After every evening meal it was my job to wash the dishes. Above the kitchen sink my mother had taped several rhyming verses she had clipped from the newspaper or a magazine. One was about being thankful for the dirty dishes. 

Years later I saw the verse still taped above her sink along with several others. It had moved with her to a different house but was reinstalled in its proper place in her kitchen. 

The paper was brown and tattered, just barely being held together by two pieces of dried cracked cellophane tape. There were water marks where she, Mother, no doubt had straightened it out to read it as she washed dishes over the years. 

The words are engraved in my memory. 

Thank God for Dirty Dishes.
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
We are eating well.
With home and health and happiness,
I no cause to fuss,
For by this stack of evidence,
God’s been very good to us.
                       ~ Mary Arlis Stuber

I don’t wash as many dishes these days. I mostly load and unload a dish washing machine.  But when I do wash dishes too delicate for the dishwasher, I find it very relaxing and peaceful as I gently swish soap over each piece and then rinse it clean in warm water. It does not seem so much a dreary task as it is a comforting memory.

My mind goes back to those days when washing dishes was a chore. I can still see that verse taped to the window frame above the sink. I pause, take a deep breath and say a prayer of thanks.

Support your local food bank ❤️

Photo credit: Martin de Arriba, Unsplash