A New Pantry

One thing I am blessed with in my condo is a really big kitchen with a lot of counter top space and cabinets.  And on top of that, I have a big pantry. But I have always been a little frustrated with the pantry because the space was not utilized very well and the shelves were ugly metal.  No matter how much I tried to organize the pantry, it always looked like a tornado had gone through it.  One of the things that stressed me out about home ownership is that I do not have a single handy bone in my body.  And I don't have a desire to learn handy things (some of my friends have loved this about home ownership, but it's not for me!)  So, I asked a friend if he could add some new shelves into the pantry.  It is amazing what two extra shelves does for a space!  And we put in pretty white shelves rather than ugly, metal shelves.

 Quincy, of course, felt he needed to be a part of the process!

 Above is a before picture.  I forgot to take the picture before I started unloading all the food, so the shelves are normally much more full than that!

 After.  The shelves are a little deeper and the top shelf is about half the size so that I could put a shelf up higher to store things that I don't use as often, such as the crockpot.

And it's full.  At first I was shocked at how full it became.  I thought I would have empty space since I have two new shelves. But I think the shelves just allowed me to spread things out a little and not hide things behind other things.  

I am humbled by the people in my life who are willing to do things for me that I cannot do myself.  This simple project would never have gotten done without help!

"Thank you for being a part of my mess."

I said it flippantly as a joke, but my friend was really struck by my statement.  Today at church, led by the Spirit, I shared a prayer request with a friend.  It was a convoluted mess of a request that I didn't really want to share, because I didn't really know what I was asking prayer for.  But I shared all of that and my friend said she would definitely pray and then she said, "Thank you for trusting me with your request."  And I said as a joke, "Thank you for being a part of my mess!"   But she just stared at me and said, "That's good!"  And I couldn't get it out of my head.

Isn't this just what the Body of Christ is all about?  Joining with other believers to point each other toward Christ, who is sufficient to take care of all our messes?

Then I was driving home and the song, O Church Arise, came on.  This lyric struck me: "When faced with trials on ev'ry side, we know the outcome is secure."  The trials I face, whether known or not, already have a victory in Christ!  The outcome is known and I am secure in Christ.

A few Scriptures that keep coming to mind when thinking of this beautiful mess that is our life in Christ:

Romans 8:26--"Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."

1 Peter 1:22--"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart."

That is what my friend did when she agreed to pray for me, loved earnestly.  So, again, thank you for being a part of my mess!