My Kitchen Prayer

Ok, it's late and I really should be in bed but first, the fruits of my labor...

(I used Photoshop to apply a "sketchy" filter,
'cause that's how I'm feeling about now.)

God bless my little kitchen
I love its every nook.

And bless me as I do my work,
Wash pots and pans and cook.

And may the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above,

With Thy great blessing
And Thy grace,
But most of all, Thy Love.

So I believe it was Brother Lawrence who, in Practicing the Presence of God, taught us that it didn't matter what we were doing, we could be communing with God and make our labor a prayer. That was what I think I did today as I cleaned my kitchen from top to bottom. Initially I was just going to mop the floor but I was inspired and scrubbed pretty much every surface. Of course, when I told that to Kent later this evening, he said, "Hmmm, let me see..." and he wiped a finger across the top of a cupboard door and, no, that wasn't one of the things I'd cleaned. He was trying to be funny but I felt compelled to grab a rag and right the situation.

Ah, doesn't this look like a kitchen just begging for someone to do some holiday cooking?

And I did get around to the floor. Actually, mopping was a small portion of the treatment I applied. Mostly it involved hands, knees, a brush and lots of Lysol 4-in-1.

Next up, I hope that Kent and I can hang my canning jar shelf on Tuesday so that I can properly store and display all the jars that are sitting around and getting in my way. Here we have oat bran, wheat bran, buckweat, dried green beans, carrots, orange zest, mushrooms, spearmint, granola, honey, barley, red beans, kidney beans, black beans, freeze-dried strawberries, marion berries, cinnamon apples, peas, broccoli, and sweet corn.

Herbs, bay leaves, chili powder, lentils, split peas, polenta, white beans, couscous, etc. They should look really pretty on the shelves.

It feels good when you get things in order. And just in time for Thanksgiving preparations and holiday cookie baking. I'm going to make pizelles for the neighbors and various friends this year. Come to think of it, I'd better get started on that soon.