dishes

Hurricane Ike has affected so many of our friends in Texas. We've heard from many friends that they got just a bit of water, two feet of water, three feet of water, more than five feet of water. Everyone is living somewhere temporary, ripping out carpet, sheetrock, all their damaged things. A few people lost even more, one family's home was damaged in a tornado, another's home burned down.

Every time I have the pleasure of cooking a meal in my kitchen, sitting down at the table to eat with the girls, and then washing up my own plates and cups in the sink, I give thanks. It is a fragile thing, our ordinary lives. How quickly even the simple things can be washed away.

There is a church in the Texas Annual Conference that is doing something ordinary, yet extraordinary. Their choir and Sunday school classes are collecting Christmas ornaments and lights for Christmas trees. They realize that many people on Galveston Island and Bolivar Penninsula are so busy trying to take care of major housing issues they may not be thinking about Christmas.

My Christmas tree is years of memories. The lights - those belong to James and Mary Grace, the patient and technical people in the family. Some ornaments are from my childhood. So many have been gathered through the years and I'm planning to give them to the girls when they move out on their own. Years of memories, so quickly can be washed away.

I do have a regular time set aside for prayer each day, but now I pray every time I do the dishes too. It's an easy way to remember those who are struggling.