Kitchen Moments

I love my kitchen. It isn't a great wealth of yummy gastronomic successes. Quite the contrary. I usually don't cook anything that takes more than 30 minutes and more than a handful of ingredients. In fact, I am a big fan of the one pot meal, even if husband calls it "bachelor" cooking... But I digress.

The layout is open and fresh, lending itself to easy cleaning and flat surfaces. It's colors are muted grey-greens and taupe, camouflaging the grime that often accompanies living in the country and the fact that I am a horrendous housekeeper.

I love my kitchen not for the cooking aspects of it, but because it is in my kitchen that I often find my friends. It never ceases to amaze me that during the annual parties we throw everyone always seems to congregate in the kitchen. It's natural, I suppose. I am usually still in there preparing food, cleaning things up, or mixing up a yummy beverage and I don't mind if you come along. In fact, I love the company!

Like the openness of the layout, I believe this room above all others reflects my friendships in ways I don't often think about. In my kitchen you can find sustenance for your heart. It may not be fancy cooking with loads of eloquent advice and parables in flowery verse, but it will sustain you. The counters may need a quick wipe down, but those are remnants of the fact that we actually live here - amidst people we cherish.

The countertops are cluttered with all manner of things, some decorative, some useful, some none of the above. I admire those kitchens that have clear counters with nothing on them and everything put away in the cupboards. I, however, know that in my life "cleared off and put away" simply isn't me. I am more of a "all out in the open" kind of gal.

That is definitely another reason I love my kitchen. When my friends and I gather around the table or perch at the breakfast bar, we get real. We have a beverage or two, maybe a bowl of chips or some veggies and dip, and we get down to the business of being real. We talk about our week, our families and we listen as each one of us opens up to the other.

Isn't that what being a Christian woman is all about? We are called by God to hospitality. It actually comes naturally to most of us.

In Titus 2 we are directed to mentor each other as women in order to be good at those things that God finds pleasing. In those relationships we become so much more to each other than just mentors though. We become partners. We realize that we are not alone and ultimately, we are not special.

"What?" you ask. How can I say such a thing when we are always told how special we are right from the very start? Of course we are all individuals, created as one of a kind creatures. What I mean to say is that no ailment, no plight, no situation we are going through is special. It has all been done before and we are not the first or the last to experience it. You see, Satan is limited in his imagination. He only has so many tricks up his sleeve. He is simply the master at using them to his best ability. He can make us feel as if we are the only people that have struggled - just ask Adam and Eve.

The Enemy thrives on our ability to isolate ourselves when we feel persecuted by our circumstances. He isolates us from our families, our friends, and when he is particularly successful, he isolates us from God.

It is at that time that we need our kitchen moments and our friends the most. Only then can we understand that we are not alone in our struggle. Only then can we truly begin to help each other realize that we are not special. It is then that I understand how very much I love my kitchen.

Have you opened your kitchen to a friend in need lately? It only takes a moment to wipe down the table and pour a glass of water. It may be what makes all the difference in her world - knowing she's not alone.