Week 8 - Learning to Love the Dish Pit
This week’s blog is going to take a little bit of a different swing.
I know we have quite a few followers and readers who don’t necessarily share our Christian beliefs, and I genuinely respect that. But over the last couple of weeks, I feel like the Lord has been teaching me some things that I can’t really shake. So this week, I wanted to get a little more vulnerable and let you guys into what’s been going on in my heart.
As Cassie mentioned last week, I have been doing A LOT of dishes.
Like… a ridiculous amount of dishes.
First at Camp Good Buddy and then at Timberline. We’ve been serving with these two ministries for about a month now, and for the majority of that time, I’ve found myself in the dish pit at least once—and sometimes twice—a day.
And I’m just going to keep it real with you guys…
I hate doing dishes.
Like, really hate doing dishes.
I would imagine most of us have been there at some point. Maybe it wasn’t dishes, but we’ve all had those jobs, tasks, or situations that we just absolutely do not want to be doing.
Some of the staff kids making the most of their new “rock climbing feature”
So let’s take a little trip down memory lane.
Think about that thing you hated doing. You know the one.
Think about why you hated it. Think about what was running through your head while you were doing it. Were you frustrated? Angry? Bored? Were you wondering why you had to be the one doing it? Did you feel overqualified? Underqualified? Did you find yourself thinking, “This is definitely not what I signed up for”?
Or maybe you were trying to figure out how to make sure you never had to do that thing again.
Still with me?
Because that was me in the dish pit.
Over the last couple of weeks, I found myself wrestling with all of those emotions, and then some. I was trying to serve with a good attitude and the right motives, but if I’m being honest, I wasn’t always winning that battle.
I kept coming back to verses like Romans 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Romans 12:1 says:
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.”
That phrase “living sacrifice” kept coming back to me.
Then there was 1 Corinthians 10:31
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Whatever you do.
That includes the things we love doing, the things we’re good at, and the things we absolutely hate doing.
Because sometimes following Jesus doesn’t look like doing something exciting or glamorous. Sometimes it looks like standing in a dish pit for the hundredth time, covered in food scraps and wondering if there is any possible way the sink could produce even more dirty dishes.
But what if even that can be done for the glory of God?
I found myself wrestling with what I wanted to do versus what I was being called to do. I wanted to be doing the projects, building things, fixing things, and using the skills I enjoy. But the Lord was reminding me that my value in serving Him isn’t determined by how exciting the job is.
Sometimes worship looks like building something.
Sometimes it looks like teaching someone a new skill.
And sometimes it looks like putting on an apron, grabbing a scrub brush, and washing another stack of plates.
The job might change, but the calling doesn’t: do it all for the glory of God.
As the week went on, something started to shift.
I began to realize that maybe the point wasn’t whether I enjoyed washing dishes. Maybe the point was whether I was willing to serve faithfully even when I didn’t enjoy it.
Little by little, I found it easier to humble myself and do the work with a better attitude.
We got to visit our old housechurch!