A Clean Kitchen Table

It is so rare that my kitchen table is anything that could even resemble clean. On any given day you'll find an assortment of craft supplies, some clean laundry (if you are lucky it'll be folded), yesterday's sip cups, unopened mail, a basket of things to take upstairs, random toys collected throughout the day, and for some reason there is always a tape measure.

In the past, I would walk in and see the clutter, it was defeating and it was really clashing with my vocation of hospitality & service! I hate opening up my home to even my closest friends with the table (and the rest of my house!) looking that way. I realized that my desire to be perceived a certain way was actually preventing me from fulfilling my vocation. It goes deeper than that as well. In a world of perfectly appointed Pinterest homes, there is a shift in focus. This vocation can become about you and how you are perceived and not about the good of other.

After months and years and prayer and true community, I realized that this cluttered kitchen table was causing me to hate my vocation. In turn, that leads to a rather sad me. Having people over was such a hassle, I didn't have the time to clean the house on a whim. Are you feeling this way? Well, pre-covid, did you long for community but didn't feel like your home was perfect enough to invite those friends over? Or did you invite them over then stress so much while pulling together every perfect detail & playing hostess that you couldn't even enjoy them? Did you ever feel like you missed out on your own party, while rushing around tweaking every little detail. Just me? Didn't think so.

After talking with a lot of my girlfriends about this, I know this is something we all struggle with day in and day out. I know that right now COVID has fractured our sense of community but that prior to that we were letting being the perfect host fracture that community! If there is anything worth protecting its our community.

So here's the thing. Now when I walk past my cluttered kitchen table, I smile. I'm sure you are all thinking, "well, that's it.. she's lost it." I smile because I know that Jesus, moves among the pots and the pans! {Wait, now she's talking about dishes?} Just hang with me! I smile because that orange crayon with the bite mark in it is a reminder that there is laughter in this house. The folded laundry is a reminder that we have clothes to keep us warm. Those dirty sippy cups are proof that we were able to nourish our bodies yesterday.

Possibly even more important than smiling instead of being defeated, is that I don't let the clutter stop me opening my home to my friends or family or you. I've learned over the past 18months of motherhood that community is more important than appearance. So when the power is out across town & my friend needs to sit her kiddos in front of the tv so she can take a breath and inhale a cup of coffee.. well, sister, come on in. Join me in this lovely messy life.

xo - Kate

---

You can shop our breakfast nook here!

You can shop the rest of Our Highland Cottage, here!