Crumbs everywhere!

I wave goodbye and close the door behind the children as they skip and giggle down the driveway, off to school. I peer at the shelf in the mud room, tilting my head slightly as an instinctive result of what I see. With curiosity I stroll past the side table and enter in to the kitchen, spying the mini-island, glancing past the breakfast bar and on to the remaining counter surfaces throughout the kitchen. At full glance, I realize that literally every single counter or table space in my entire kitchen has crumbs on it, remains from something, someone. I don’t know the exact contents of each morsel or dropping left behind but it is clear someone has made their mark on our home.

I demand answers: how in the world does this happen?

I am irritated. I frantically grab a wash rag to restore my kitchen back to its most perfected form. But as I rub the wash cloth over each surface and collect the crumbs in my hand, a familiar verse is brought to mind, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 55:8)

I question, “Lord, am I to believe that what first appears to be a “mess” in my perspective may in fact not be a mess?” Slamming a single fist down on the counter, I repeat my initial declaration: all of the crumbs left behind IS a “mess”!

Uninvited doubt creeps in and I pause in my frivolous efforts. Wait. Is there another possibility? Could the crumbs also be an outward expression of life and vitality in our home? Each child is capable of making their own lunch. Hard at work they spread and cut, fold and pack.  So busy are their little hands and bodies they don’t even notice the trail left in tow. All they know is the joy of accomplishing something. Without realizing it, they are each one tiny step closer to independence and growth in their life as a child.  

I relinquish my initial assessment and go back to work; I complete the task of cleaning up the crumbs but this time with a change of heart.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift of 5 children. Thank you that they are capable of so many wonderful things. They are growing up so fast and I know these days are numbered. Let me treasure them as we work towards seeing life as You see it and may I always be grateful for the “crumbs” in our lives.