I have an embarrassing habit. When I am at a friend’s house and I grab a cup for water or coffee, I always check the inside to see if it’s clean! I really hope none of my friends have noticed me doing this (although I guess I am outing myself now). It has absolutely nothing to do with their housekeeping abilities or any doubts of mine about their dishwashing habits. Rather, it results from the fact that at my house my children are responsible for washing my dishes and the level of irresponsibleness varies from child to child so that checking the inside of cups has become an ingrained habit.
I love not having to do dishes all of the time. For the most part, the older children do a thorough job. The younger ones though, do not seem to realize that if an item comes out of the clean dishwasher still dirty, it does not magically become clean in the cupboard. I have saved myself from many a gross incident by checking before using a cup or silverware.
As my children mature, they become more responsible and they do a better job with all of their chores. I will need to do less checking of my dishes in the future. Right now though, it is still my job to be checking the insides of my children themselves. As a parent, I try to make sure I check in regularly with their hearts. Some of my kids are quieter than others and if I am not alert, they can slip through the cracks especially in the shadow of a more needy or demanding sibling. It is important that I find times, or create times with each child so they can share how they are feeling or just get a chance to connect with me.
Again, as my children have grown older this also looks different. With my two oldest I am learning how to move from constant “Mom” mode into more of a friend/mentor/encourager. This is not always easy, there are many, many times that I want to just grab my scrub brush and get to work on their insides! At these times I try to take a deep breath and remind myself that God has always kept my children in His hands and that He loves them even more than I do. Better than that, He knows them better than I do and will protect and guide them. I love the verse that says, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” II Timothy 1:12b
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