Kitchen Naming

In recent months, it has come to my attention that I hate my kitchen.

"Hate" is the word my mother always responded to by saying "Hate is a very strong word" in order to deter us from saying it.

I still stand by my assessment.

My kitchen doesn't bring me peace. In order to unload the dishwasher, I have to put most of my dishes on the counter, close the dishwasher and then put them in the cabinets. Though it's a good size of kitchen, the storage is horrible; things get lost. I use two other closets on the first floor for overflow. There are myriads of other reasons that I dislike this room, which is a shame because I enjoy cooking for my family.

I have had three other kitchens before this one; this one tops the cake.

I have bought scores of organizing do-dads for this kitchen. No matter what I do, it seems to put a bandaid on something that is worthy of surgery.

Recently I came to the conclusion that the hate I have for my kitchen is so large that it is about to swallow me the way my 2 year old tries to swallow Munchkin Donuts: whole and entirely.

*Gulp*

So in a weak moment, I finally decided to pray about my kitchen situation. I think I might have told God that I hated my kitchen so much that I wanted to burn it down. That I didn't know what I was getting into when we bought this house. And that I'd really like the hate to subside. And that I'd like another one, please-oh-please-oh-puh-lease.

I'd like to tell you that, as a result of the prayer, the Internal Revenue Service found an error on our taxes and essentially paid for a brand new kitchen for us.

Instead, I re-named my kitchen. I named it "Faith Kitchen". This nomenclature hasn't kept items from plummeting out of cabinets onto my seething head, but it has placed something into God's hands instead of mine.

What's more, I need to wait for the right plan to be revealed. I have no idea how I would want my kitchen redesigned even if I were ready to go.

I do know that I want a kitchen where people feel welcome and invited. If anyone comes into my *new* kitchen and feels overawed by hoity-toity design, then it has lost its heart. I've been in kitchens like that: Show kitchens. Nope, I want it to be a place of peace, of nurturing and of good conversations.

So keep me accountable. If you walk into my kitchen one day and find me screeching smack about it, remind me to leave it in God's hands.